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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 120 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 · bear · hand · season · dip · deal · bat · file

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. bat — the animal
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bear — the animal
  5. hand — in cards
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. hand — help
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. dip — to sink
  11. season — in sport
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a document
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bear — the animal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. file — a tool
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. season — to add flavour

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