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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: wind · wake · prune · net · file · tear · craft · mark

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. wind — moving air
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. file — a document
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. prune — to trim
  9. net — for catching
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wake — a trail
  12. mark — a grade
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. mark — a trace
  15. craft — boats
  16. craft — a skill
  17. file — a line of people
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. net — after costs
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. net — in sport
  24. prune — the fruit

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