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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: stick · court · present · mate · bat · prune · bass · file

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. bass — the fish
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. mate — a partner
  6. file — a tool
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. mate — a friend
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. court — of law
  13. prune — to trim
  14. file — a line of people
  15. mate — to breed
  16. file — a document
  17. court — of a king
  18. present — there
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. present — a gift
  21. bass — low music
  22. bat — the animal
  23. present — the time now
  24. court — for sport

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