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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: prune · season · bowl · tear · swing · game · temple · patient

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. tear — from crying
  3. season — of the year
  4. game — a match
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. tear — from crying
  7. swing — in golf
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. game — wild animals
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. tear — to rip
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. season — in sport
  24. swing — music

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