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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · fan · track · tear · snap · object · prune · band

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. band — a music group
  4. spring — the season
  5. track — to keep track
  6. object — to protest
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. tear — from crying
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. spring — a coil
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. object — a thing
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. object — an aim
  15. tear — to rip
  16. snap — to click
  17. tear — from crying
  18. track — a path
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. spring — of water
  21. track — a song
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  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