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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: clip · kid · prune · face · safe · march · wound · last

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. wound — an injury
  3. face — to confront
  4. clip — to cut
  5. prune — to trim
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. march — the month
  8. prune — to trim
  9. march — music
  10. face — part of the head
  11. last — final
  12. march — the month
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. clip — for paper
  15. last — to go on
  16. kid — to tease
  17. wound — an injury
  18. clip — a video
  19. kid — child
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. face — to point toward
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. prune — the fruit

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