The battle of words between Nick Allen and his teacher, Mrs. Granger, is a conflict over nothing less than the meaning of language. Mrs. Granger says that words mean what we all agree they mean, and Nick tests this theory by renaming the object everyone has decided is called a "pen." When he starts using the word "frindle" instead of "pen," others follow, and the word he invented eventually makes its way into Webster's College Dictionary, as well as making Nick a great deal of money.

From this account, it seems clear that Nick wins the battle of words. The message of the book, however, is not so simple. Mrs. Granger is a formidable figure, but she is no authoritarian. The book reveals that she is a dedicated and gifted educator with a genuine love of language, which she passes on to her students. Nick may have take a principle she taught him to its farthest extreme, but he is genuinely learning, and Mrs. Granger is proud of this fact. Nick only learns years later, when he is in college and receives the letter Mrs. Granger wrote to him, that she was always on his side, and both of them won the battle. This conveys a profound truth about the nature of education, in which teachers and students often appear to be in opposition, but are fundamentally pursuing the same goals.