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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 116 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: fan · tear · bass · net · prune · race · bound · spring

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. tear — to rip
  3. spring — of water
  4. net — for catching
  5. prune — to trim
  6. net — in sport
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bound — tied together
  9. bound — obliged
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. race — humankind
  12. tear — from crying
  13. spring — the season
  14. race — the arms race
  15. net — after costs
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bass — the fish
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. bass — low music
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bound — certain
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. race — a contest
  24. bass — the instrument

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