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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ball · prune · mine · clip · ruler · degree · wake · file

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. file — a tool
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. prune — to trim
  6. file — a document
  7. ball — a dance
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. degree — temperature
  15. clip — a video
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. degree — an amount
  18. clip — to cut
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wake — a trail
  21. degree — from a university
  22. clip — for paper
  23. file — a line of people
  24. mine — an explosive

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