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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 116 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: mine · racket · bat · prune · sharp · lash · stem · scale

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. stem — to come from
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — the animal
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. scale — size or range
  18. sharp — clever
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. scale — in music

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