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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.

Make a worksheet

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: toast · bear · temple · pitcher · clip · cold · prune · leaves

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. clip — to cut
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. prune — to trim
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. cold — an illness
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. clip — a video
  16. cold — not warm
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bear — the animal
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. toast — bread
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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