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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: squash · land · spring · lean · saw · prune · bat · rule

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. bat — the animal
  4. spring — a coil
  5. lean — thin
  6. prune — to trim
  7. saw — the tool
  8. spring — of water
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. spring — the season
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. squash — the sport
  15. prune — to trim
  16. land — to come down
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. squash — to crush
  19. rule — a law
  20. lean — to bend
  21. land — ground
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. rule — government

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