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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: mine · bulb · bat · fan · prune · rash · straw · season

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. rash — hasty
  3. season — in sport
  4. bulb — for light
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. rash — a series
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bulb — for light
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. bat — the animal
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. mine — for digging
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. season — of the year
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. prune — to trim
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. fan — to cool the air

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