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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: ground · cabinet · cap · prune · clip · bat · game · leaves

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cap — a hat
  4. ground — crushed
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. bat — the animal
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. game — wild animals
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. prune — to trim
  17. game — a match
  18. cap — a lid
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — the earth
  22. prune — to trim
  23. clip — a video
  24. game — a kind of play

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