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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. net — in sport
  4. prune — to trim
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. net — after costs
  9. branch — a division
  10. fall — to drop
  11. capital — money
  12. mate — a friend
  13. net — for catching
  14. mate — a partner
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. capital — a city
  20. fall — the season
  21. mate — to breed
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. fall — to drop
  24. capital — a big letter

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