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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: prune · degree · bank · kid · file · squash · net · bat

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. file — a line of people
  3. file — a document
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bat — the animal
  6. file — a tool
  7. degree — from a university
  8. squash — the sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. squash — to crush
  13. bank — of a river
  14. prune — to trim
  15. net — in sport
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. bank — for money
  18. kid — to tease
  19. degree — an amount
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. net — for catching
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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