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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: tear · bat · ball · swing · prune · mouse · stem · bark

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. ball — a great time
  3. swing — to play on
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. bark — to shout
  13. ball — a dance
  14. prune — to trim
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. swing — in golf
  17. stem — to come from
  18. tear — from crying
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. swing — music
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. ball — a round shape

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