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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. last — to go on
  3. clip — for paper
  4. band — a ring
  5. degree — temperature
  6. rest — what's left
  7. clip — a video
  8. band — a music group
  9. rash — a series
  10. swing — to play on
  11. degree — an amount
  12. prune — to trim
  13. degree — from a university
  14. swing — in golf
  15. clip — to cut
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. swing — music
  19. rest — a break
  20. rest — what's left
  21. last — final
  22. rash — hasty
  23. prune — to trim
  24. last — finally

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