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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: straw · pop · drill · key · fall · net · prune · bat

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. key — for a lock
  3. pop — soda
  4. pop — to visit
  5. drill — the tool
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. fall — to drop
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. drill — army training
  10. net — in sport
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. net — for catching
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. key — the most important part
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. pop — music
  18. drill — a practice
  19. net — after costs
  20. key — in music
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bat — the animal
  24. fall — the season

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