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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: stock · game · hand · row · prune · drill · cell · bass

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. hand — in cards
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. cell — in biology
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. bass — the fish
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. prune — to trim
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bass — low music
  11. game — a match
  12. game — wild animals
  13. row — a line
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — army training
  16. row — to paddle
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. stock — shares
  19. cell — a phone
  20. hand — help
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. stock — goods
  24. game — a kind of play

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