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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 · ground · straw · bear · bass · rash · date · tear

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bass — low music
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. prune — to trim
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bear — the animal
  12. rash — hasty
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. rash — a series
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. tear — from crying
  19. date — the fruit
  20. bear — the animal
  21. prune — to trim
  22. ground — the earth
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. date — on the calendar

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