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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. present — a gift
  4. present — there
  5. prune — to trim
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. file — a document
  8. present — the time now
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. clip — to cut
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — money
  15. prune — to trim
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. clip — a video
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — to shout
  21. file — a line of people
  22. clip — for paper
  23. file — a tool
  24. nail — for a hammer

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