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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: bat · wound · prune · tear · spell · stick · craft · tube

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. wound — an injury
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. tube — a container
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. tear — from crying
  10. spell — magic
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. craft — boats
  14. prune — to trim
  15. craft — a skill
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. tube — the underground
  18. spell — a short time
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. wound — an injury
  22. spell — letters
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bat — in an idiom

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