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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: prune · mate · jam · clip · ball · sharp · cold · saw

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. mate — to breed
  4. clip — for paper
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. clip — a video
  9. mate — a partner
  10. cold — not warm
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. ball — a dance
  13. saw — the tool
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. ball — a great time
  20. saw — the tool
  21. mate — a friend
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. sharp — clever

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