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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: prune · vault · drill · hand · date · mark · pitcher · swing

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. prune — to trim
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. swing — to play on
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. drill — the tool
  12. drill — army training
  13. mark — a trace
  14. hand — in cards
  15. swing — music
  16. mark — a grade
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. swing — in golf
  21. vault — a safe
  22. drill — a practice
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. prune — the fruit

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