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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: rest · prune · fan · pound · rash · band · spell · row

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. row — a line
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. rash — hasty
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. rest — a break
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rest — what's left
  12. pound — a weight
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — magic
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. row — to paddle
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. band — a music group
  22. rest — what's left
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. prune — to trim

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