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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · fan · prune · patient · temple · bark · mine · drill

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. march — the month
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — to shout
  7. drill — the tool
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. drill — a practice
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. drill — army training
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. mine — for digging
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. prune — to trim

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com