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

Word bank: prune · cold · vault · clip · patient · rule

  1. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cold — an illness
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. prune — to trim
  9. clip — to cut
  10. rule — a law
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. rule — government
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. prune — to trim
  18. vault — a safe

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