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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: prune · kid · net · staff · tear · bat · pop · leaves

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — employees
  3. pop — music
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — in sport
  8. tear — to rip
  9. bat — the animal
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. tear — from crying
  15. staff — a stick
  16. prune — to trim
  17. kid — child
  18. pop — to visit
  19. kid — to tease
  20. pop — soda
  21. net — for catching
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. tear — from crying

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