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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: band · tear · bat · prune · bark · fan · ruler · net

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. band — a music group
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. tear — from crying
  12. net — in sport
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. prune — to trim
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. tear — to rip
  18. net — for catching
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bat — the animal
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. band — a ring
  24. net — after costs

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