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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. cue — a hint
  3. prune — to trim
  4. clip — a video
  5. cell — a phone
  6. tear — to rip
  7. ball — a dance
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bank — for money
  12. bank — for money
  13. cue — for pool
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bank — of a river
  16. rash — a series
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. tear — from crying
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. cue — a signal
  21. rash — hasty
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. tear — from crying
  24. clip — for paper

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