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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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. chest — a box
  4. prune — to trim
  5. stock — goods
  6. clip — a video
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. stock — shares
  12. rash — a series
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rash — hasty
  17. hand — help
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. chest — of your body
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. band — a ring
  22. clip — for paper
  23. hand — in cards
  24. band — a music 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