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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: snap · bat · prune · lash · rule · jam

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. prune — to trim
  7. rule — a law
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. bat — the animal
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. rule — government
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to click
  18. jam — in traffic

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