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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: wound · bowl · chest · prune · craft · bat

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bat — the animal
  3. wound — an injury
  4. prune — to trim
  5. wound — an injury
  6. chest — of your body
  7. craft — boats
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. craft — a skill
  11. chest — a box
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. chest — of your body

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