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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. clip — a video
  4. club — for dancing
  5. prune — to trim
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. band — a music group
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. clip — to cut
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — to tease
  18. stem — to come from
  19. clip — for paper
  20. club — for golf
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. bat — the animal
  24. club — a group

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