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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: cold · row · drill · trunk · swing · wound · prune · jam

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. prune — to trim
  3. drill — a practice
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cold — an illness
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. drill — the tool
  12. row — a line
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wound — an injury
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. swing — in golf
  18. drill — army training
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — to play on
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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