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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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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: rash · ruler · prune · perch · clip · content · cold · lie

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. clip — to cut
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. content — the amount
  5. rash — hasty
  6. cold — not warm
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. lie — to recline
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. clip — a video
  11. content — happy
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. perch — the fish
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. prune — to trim
  16. rash — a series
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. clip — for paper
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. cold — an illness
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. lie — an untruth

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