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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. bank — for money
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. cell — a phone
  5. spell — a short time
  6. rest — a break
  7. rest — what's left
  8. tear — from crying
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. rest — what's left
  11. file — a document
  12. bank — of a river
  13. spell — magic
  14. tear — from crying
  15. snap — to click
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. file — a tool
  20. tear — to rip
  21. prune — to trim
  22. file — a line of people
  23. spell — letters
  24. bank — for money

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