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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: present · craft · clip · rule · prune · patient

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. present — a gift
  3. rule — a law
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — a video
  6. craft — boats
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. present — the time now
  10. present — there
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. clip — to cut
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. rule — government
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. craft — a skill
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. prune — to trim

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