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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · rush · prune · clip · file · suit · squash · chair

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cold — an illness
  3. squash — the sport
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. cold — not warm
  6. suit — in cards
  7. chair — a leader
  8. file — a document
  9. prune — to trim
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. rush — hurry
  12. squash — to crush
  13. prune — to trim
  14. file — a line of people
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. clip — for paper
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. suit — clothes
  21. file — a tool
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. suit — to fit
  24. clip — a video

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