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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 120 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: prune · spring · bay · spell · pitcher · rash · tube · fall

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. spell — a short time
  3. spring — the season
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. spring — a coil
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. prune — to trim
  8. rash — a series
  9. spring — of water
  10. tube — a container
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. prune — to trim
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. tube — the underground
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. rash — hasty
  21. spell — letters
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. spell — magic

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