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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: clip · cabinet · season · fine · squash · prune · cold · branch

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. clip — a video
  4. squash — the sport
  5. prune — to trim
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. fine — high quality
  9. prune — to trim
  10. cold — not warm
  11. season — of the year
  12. squash — to crush
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. season — in sport
  19. branch — a division
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. clip — for paper
  22. fine — all right
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. cabinet — ministers

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