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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: nail · bat · bark · swing · fork · wound · prune · spring

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. swing — music
  4. bark — to shout
  5. spring — the season
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. swing — to play on
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. swing — in golf
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. fork — in a road
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. prune — to trim
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bat — the animal
  22. prune — to trim
  23. spring — of water
  24. bat — for baseball

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