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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.

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: bass · prune · rash · file · fan · race · pitcher · cell

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. race — a contest
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. prune — to trim
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. rash — hasty
  7. cell — a phone
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cell — in biology
  10. race — the arms race
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. race — humankind
  14. rash — a series
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. file — a document
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. bass — the fish
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bass — low music
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a tool

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