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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: mine · saw · squash · fall · bark · prune · bat · swing

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. bat — the animal
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. swing — in golf
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. fall — the season
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bark — to shout
  13. mine — for digging
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. swing — to play on
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. swing — music

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