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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · tear · straw · ball · face · spell · file · patient

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. spell — letters
  4. face — to point toward
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. file — a line of people
  8. spell — a short time
  9. face — part of the head
  10. face — to confront
  11. prune — to trim
  12. tear — from crying
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. ball — a great time
  16. spell — magic
  17. prune — to trim
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. file — a tool
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. file — a document
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. ball — a dance

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