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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: cell · clip · capital · prune · key · ball · lie · spring

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. ball — a great time
  3. spring — the season
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. prune — to trim
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. capital — money
  10. ball — a dance
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. capital — a city
  13. key — in music
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — a phone
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. lie — to recline
  18. spring — a coil
  19. cell — in biology
  20. spring — of water
  21. key — the most important part
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. clip — to cut
  24. key — for a lock

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