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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 120 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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. club — for golf
  4. deal — to handle
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. game — a match
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. clip — to cut
  13. club — a group
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. pound — a weight
  17. club — for dancing
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. branch — a division
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. kid — child
  22. game — wild animals
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pound — to hit hard

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