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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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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: drill · prune · field · fan · bat · sharp · band · pitcher

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. sharp — clever
  3. field — farmland
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. field — for sport
  7. band — a ring
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. drill — the tool
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. field — a subject
  18. prune — to trim
  19. drill — army training
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. bat — the animal
  22. prune — to trim
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a music group

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