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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 116 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: spell · tear · saw · drill · perch · last · spring · prune

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. saw — the tool
  3. drill — the tool
  4. spell — letters
  5. tear — from crying
  6. perch — the fish
  7. spring — the season
  8. prune — to trim
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. drill — army training
  13. last — finally
  14. spell — a short time
  15. tear — to rip
  16. prune — to trim
  17. saw — the tool
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. drill — a practice
  20. last — to go on
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — of water
  23. last — final
  24. spell — magic

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