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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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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 · bat · deal · bank · race · fan · kick · content

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. kick — in football
  5. content — happy
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. bank — for money
  8. bank — for money
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. prune — to trim
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. bank — of a river
  16. race — humankind
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. race — the arms race
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. race — a contest
  21. prune — to trim
  22. content — the amount
  23. deal — to handle
  24. bat — the animal

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