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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: prune · wind · craft · pop · patient · bark · bat · land

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pop — to visit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. land — to come down
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. pop — music
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. craft — boats
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. land — a country
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. craft — a skill
  22. bat — the animal
  23. land — ground
  24. bat — in an idiom

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