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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: bound · pop · track · net · bat · file · stem · prune

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. pop — to visit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. net — for catching
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. prune — to trim
  9. file — a document
  10. track — a song
  11. track — a path
  12. file — a tool
  13. bound — certain
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. net — in sport
  17. stem — to come from
  18. pop — music
  19. file — a line of people
  20. net — after costs
  21. track — to keep track
  22. bound — obliged
  23. bound — tied together
  24. bat — the animal

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