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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ball · file · spell · prune · arm · band · bat · cell

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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 line of people
  4. band — a ring
  5. ball — a great time
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — a phone
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. bat — the animal
  12. spell — letters
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. file — a document
  15. band — a music group
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. cell — in biology
  18. spell — a short time
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. file — a tool
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. spell — magic
  24. ball — a dance

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