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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: prune · clip · can · wind · racket · bore · field · stem

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. bore — to tire
  3. clip — a video
  4. field — a subject
  5. stem — to come from
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. clip — to cut
  8. field — farmland
  9. prune — to trim
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. can — to be able to
  13. can — a tin
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. clip — for paper
  16. prune — to trim
  17. wind — moving air
  18. field — for sport
  19. bore — to drill
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. can — a tin
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. wind — moving air
  24. racket — for tennis

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