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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 120 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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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: drill · calf · cold · prune · rest · pound · board · chest

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  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. pound — a weight
  2. board — a committee
  3. drill — a practice
  4. cold — an illness
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. drill — the tool
  7. rest — what's left
  8. prune — to trim
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rest — what's left
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. cold — not warm
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. prune — to trim
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. board — to get on
  22. drill — army training
  23. pound — to hit hard
  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