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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 · saw · sharp · bore · bowl · drill · row · wound

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. row — a line
  4. prune — to trim
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. wound — an injury
  9. row — to paddle
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. drill — a practice
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. wound — an injury
  16. saw — the tool
  17. drill — the tool
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. saw — the tool
  22. sharp — clever
  23. drill — army training
  24. sharp — exactly

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