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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: toast · current · prune · chest · clip · ball · drill · rest

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. chest — of your body
  3. current — electric
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. toast — bread
  6. drill — the tool
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. clip — for paper
  9. ball — a great time
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. rest — what's left
  12. drill — a practice
  13. current — happening now
  14. clip — to cut
  15. chest — of your body
  16. clip — a video
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rest — what's left
  19. chest — a box
  20. ball — a dance
  21. current — of water
  22. drill — army training
  23. prune — to trim
  24. rest — a break

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