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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. clip — to cut
  3. kid — child
  4. season — of the year
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bat — the animal
  8. clip — a video
  9. bore — to drill
  10. rule — a law
  11. face — part of the head
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. rule — government
  15. prune — to trim
  16. season — in sport
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. face — to point toward
  20. kid — to tease
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. prune — to trim
  23. face — to confront
  24. bat — for baseball

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