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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
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: prune · clip · game · hand · racket · kid · cap · cabinet

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. game — a match
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. hand — help
  7. cap — of ice
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. clip — to cut
  10. hand — in cards
  11. kid — to tease
  12. cap — a lid
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — wild animals
  21. kid — child
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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