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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: ground · prune · object · rash · hand · bat · lie · scale

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. object — to protest
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. rash — hasty
  5. ground — the earth
  6. scale — size or range
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. object — a thing
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. object — an aim
  12. ground — a position
  13. prune — to trim
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. lie — to recline
  17. bat — the animal
  18. rash — a series
  19. prune — to trim
  20. scale — in music
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. hand — help
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. scale — for weighing

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