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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. spring — a coil
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. prune — to trim
  5. last — finally
  6. clip — to cut
  7. prune — to trim
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. last — final
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. fine — high quality
  15. capital — a city
  16. spring — of water
  17. saw — the tool
  18. fine — all right
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. last — to go on
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. spring — the season
  23. clip — a video
  24. capital — money

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