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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 116 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: ruler · rash · chair · mouse · clip · prune · cold · kick

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. clip — for paper
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. chair — a leader
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — an illness
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. clip — to cut
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. kick — in football
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. cold — not warm
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. clip — a video
  23. rash — hasty
  24. rash — a series

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