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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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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: rest · prune · saw · snap · bat · cabinet · rock · mate

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. snap — to click
  3. rock — a stone
  4. mate — to breed
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. rest — a break
  8. prune — to trim
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. bat — the animal
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. rest — what's left
  17. mate — a friend
  18. mate — a partner
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. saw — the tool
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. saw — the tool
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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