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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: game · last · prune · bulb · bat · drill · clip · stick

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. clip — for paper
  3. last — finally
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. game — a match
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. drill — army training
  9. prune — to trim
  10. last — to go on
  11. bulb — for light
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bulb — for light
  15. prune — to trim
  16. clip — a video
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. last — final
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. clip — to cut
  22. drill — a practice
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. drill — the tool

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