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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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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: pit · prune · drill · press · chest · spell · wind · root

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. root — of a word
  3. drill — the tool
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. root — the cause
  7. spell — a short time
  8. drill — army training
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. prune — to trim
  11. pit — in a race
  12. press — a publisher
  13. root — of a plant
  14. pit — a hole
  15. press — to push
  16. chest — a box
  17. wind — moving air
  18. prune — to trim
  19. spell — letters
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. press — newspapers
  24. drill — a practice

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