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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bat · file · mine · hide · prune · sharp

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. mine — for digging
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bat — the animal
  9. file — a document
  10. sharp — clever
  11. prune — to trim
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. file — a tool
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. file — a line of people
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. mine — an explosive

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