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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: clip · bat · roll · can · prune · calf · degree · file

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. file — a document
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. file — a tool
  5. degree — from a university
  6. roll — a list
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. roll — a cake
  9. can — to be able to
  10. file — a line of people
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. bat — the animal
  14. degree — temperature
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. clip — to cut
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. can — a tin
  19. prune — to trim
  20. degree — an amount
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. clip — a video
  24. can — a tin

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