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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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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 · bat · wave · snap · march · nail · club · file

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. prune — to trim
  3. file — a tool
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bat — the animal
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. club — for dancing
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. march — music
  16. club — for golf
  17. march — the month
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. club — a group
  21. snap — to click
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. march — the month

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