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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: clip · spell · prune · saw · date · season · bat · squash

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. saw — the tool
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — magic
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. prune — to trim
  9. squash — the sport
  10. date — the fruit
  11. saw — the tool
  12. season — in sport
  13. spell — letters
  14. clip — to cut
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. clip — for paper
  19. season — of the year
  20. bat — the animal
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. squash — to crush
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. clip — a video

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