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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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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: foot · file · last · toast · prune · march · clip · race

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. march — the month
  3. prune — to trim
  4. last — final
  5. race — humankind
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. toast — bread
  9. clip — for paper
  10. foot — a measure
  11. clip — to cut
  12. file — a tool
  13. march — music
  14. file — a line of people
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. race — a contest
  17. march — the month
  18. clip — a video
  19. last — finally
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. last — to go on
  22. file — a document
  23. race — the arms race
  24. prune — to trim

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