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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: rule · straw · prune · wave · content · bat · mark · nail

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bat — the animal
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. mark — a trace
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. rule — government
  16. mark — a grade
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. rule — a law
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. content — happy
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. content — the amount

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