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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: band · stem · wind · roll · prune · capital · bear · clip

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. capital — a city
  3. bear — the animal
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. stem — to come from
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. band — a music group
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. band — a ring
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. capital — money
  18. roll — a list
  19. wind — moving air
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. bear — the animal
  22. prune — to trim
  23. roll — a cake
  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