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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: tear · bass · prune · tube · object · field · clip · rash

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. tear — from crying
  3. field — a subject
  4. object — a thing
  5. tube — a container
  6. clip — for paper
  7. field — farmland
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. rash — hasty
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. tube — the underground
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bass — the fish
  15. bass — low music
  16. field — for sport
  17. tear — to rip
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. rash — a series
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. object — to protest
  22. object — an aim
  23. clip — to cut
  24. tear — from crying

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