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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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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: race · firm · prune · spring · row · fan

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. prune — to trim
  3. firm — decided
  4. spring — the season
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — a line
  9. spring — of water
  10. race — humankind
  11. race — a contest
  12. firm — steady
  13. prune — to trim
  14. race — the arms race
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. row — to paddle
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. spring — a coil

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