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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. shower — rain
  4. bat — the animal
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. fork — in a road
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. bulb — for light
  15. prune — to trim
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. file — a document
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a line of people
  22. shower — to wash
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. bulb — for light

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