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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 · shower · chest · clip · band · bank · bay · vault

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. 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. bay — a horse colour
  2. clip — to cut
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. bank — of a river
  6. bank — for money
  7. shower — to wash
  8. chest — of your body
  9. clip — for paper
  10. shower — rain
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bank — for money
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chest — of your body
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a music group
  21. clip — a video
  22. chest — a box
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. 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