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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: arm · bat · prune · season · rash · file · hand · cap

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. file — a tool
  4. cap — of ice
  5. rash — a series
  6. file — a line of people
  7. cap — a lid
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — the animal
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cap — a hat
  15. hand — help
  16. season — of the year
  17. rash — hasty
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. season — in sport
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. hand — in cards
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. file — a document
  24. season — to add flavour

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