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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wake · face · row · game · date · prune · rule · clip

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. face — to confront
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. row — to paddle
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. rule — government
  8. prune — to trim
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — the fruit
  11. game — a match
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. clip — to cut
  15. face — part of the head
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wake — a trail
  18. row — a line
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. rule — a law
  22. prune — to trim
  23. face — to point toward
  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