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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: prune · field · race · nail · racket · mouse · bear · clip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. race — humankind
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. field — for sport
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. field — a subject
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. prune — to trim
  13. race — a contest
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. bear — the animal
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. race — the arms race
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. bear — the animal
  22. prune — to trim
  23. clip — a video
  24. field — farmland

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