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

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. ball — a dance
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. prune — to trim
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. ball — a great time
  9. chip — to eat
  10. cold — an illness
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. rush — hurry
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. prune — to trim
  17. clip — for paper
  18. branch — a division
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. mark — a grade
  21. chip — for betting
  22. clip — a video
  23. mark — a trace
  24. cold — not warm

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