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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: ball · fall · rush · season · prune · clip · chest · hand

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. hand — help
  3. fall — the season
  4. ball — a great time
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. clip — to cut
  7. hand — in cards
  8. clip — for paper
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. fall — to drop
  13. ball — a dance
  14. season — of the year
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rush — hurry
  17. fall — to drop
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. season — in sport
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. prune — to trim
  23. clip — a video
  24. prune — to trim

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