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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 120 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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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: drill · saw · field · prune · foot · perch · march · wind

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. saw — the tool
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. march — the month
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. march — music
  8. drill — the tool
  9. prune — to trim
  10. perch — the fish
  11. prune — to trim
  12. field — a subject
  13. wind — moving air
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. saw — the tool
  16. drill — a practice
  17. march — the month
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. foot — a measure
  23. field — for sport
  24. drill — army training

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