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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 · wound · file · content · court · tear · nail · drill

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. drill — army training
  3. court — of law
  4. prune — to trim
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. wound — an injury
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. tear — from crying
  9. court — of a king
  10. prune — to trim
  11. tear — from crying
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. file — a tool
  15. content — the amount
  16. court — for sport
  17. file — a document
  18. wound — an injury
  19. content — happy
  20. drill — the tool
  21. tear — to rip
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. drill — a practice
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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