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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cap · squash · cell · clip · prune · game · spring · branch

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. squash — the sport
  4. squash — to crush
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. clip — a video
  7. cell — in biology
  8. game — wild animals
  9. prune — to trim
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. cap — a hat
  12. spring — the season
  13. clip — to cut
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cap — of ice
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. cell — a phone
  19. game — a match
  20. cap — a lid
  21. branch — a division
  22. spring — of water
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. clip — for paper

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