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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: fork · drill · snap · toast · hand · last · prune · nail

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. drill — army training
  3. hand — help
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. snap — to click
  6. toast — bread
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. last — to go on
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. last — finally
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. drill — a practice
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. drill — the tool
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. hand — in cards
  19. prune — to trim
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. last — final
  24. nail — for a hammer

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