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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.

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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: present · board · clip · tear · row · prune · spell · bound

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. tear — from crying
  3. prune — to trim
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. bound — certain
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. present — there
  9. row — to paddle
  10. row — a line
  11. clip — a video
  12. prune — to trim
  13. spell — letters
  14. present — a gift
  15. spell — magic
  16. clip — to cut
  17. board — a committee
  18. clip — for paper
  19. board — to get on
  20. present — the time now
  21. spell — a short time
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. bound — obliged

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