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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: prune · spring · bass · bat · kid · sharp · track · object

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. bass — the fish
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — child
  5. bat — the animal
  6. spring — a coil
  7. track — a song
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. spring — the season
  12. sharp — clever
  13. bass — low music
  14. object — an aim
  15. track — a path
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. object — a thing
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. spring — of water
  22. kid — to tease
  23. object — to protest
  24. prune — to trim

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