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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: spring · prune · saw · nail · plane · bowl · row · file

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. prune — to trim
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. file — a tool
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. spring — a coil
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. spring — of water
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. saw — the tool
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. file — a document
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. prune — to trim
  20. spring — the season
  21. file — a line of people
  22. row — a line
  23. plane — a tool
  24. row — to paddle

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