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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.

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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: race · racket · prune · pop · clip · cold · trunk · face

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. race — the arms race
  3. cold — an illness
  4. face — part of the head
  5. pop — to visit
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. prune — to trim
  9. clip — for paper
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. cold — not warm
  13. clip — to cut
  14. face — to confront
  15. prune — to trim
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. race — humankind
  18. pop — music
  19. clip — a video
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. face — to point toward
  24. race — a contest

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