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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 · stand · drill · tube · bass · cold · row · chair

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. stand — to bear
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. prune — to trim
  5. drill — the tool
  6. drill — a practice
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chair — a leader
  10. drill — army training
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. tube — a container
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. bass — low music
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. row — a line
  21. tube — the underground
  22. bass — the fish
  23. row — to paddle
  24. chair — to sit on

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