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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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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: fan · date · nail · last · spring · net · hand · prune

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. hand — in cards
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. last — final
  7. prune — to trim
  8. hand — help
  9. net — after costs
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. date — the fruit
  15. spring — the season
  16. net — in sport
  17. spring — of water
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. prune — to trim
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — finally
  23. spring — a coil
  24. net — for catching

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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