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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. file — a tool
  3. clip — a video
  4. rule — a law
  5. file — a document
  6. rock — a stone
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. spring — of water
  9. march — the month
  10. rock — music
  11. march — music
  12. file — a line of people
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. rule — government
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. clip — to cut
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. march — the month
  21. spring — a coil
  22. snap — to click
  23. spring — the season
  24. clip — for paper

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