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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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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: kick · bat · prune · spring · craft · clip · sharp · kid

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. bat — the animal
  3. kick — in football
  4. prune — to trim
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. clip — a video
  7. spring — of water
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. clip — for paper
  10. spring — a coil
  11. kid — to tease
  12. sharp — clever
  13. craft — boats
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. spring — the season
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. prune — to trim
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. craft — a skill

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