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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cap — of ice
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cap — a hat
  6. net — after costs
  7. present — the time now
  8. clip — a video
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. clip — to cut
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. clip — for paper
  13. present — a gift
  14. sharp — clever
  15. present — there
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mark — a trace
  18. net — for catching
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. net — in sport
  22. cap — a lid
  23. branch — a division
  24. branch — of a tree

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