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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: ground · prune · plane · band · clip · date · land · cell

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. ground — crushed
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. cell — a phone
  6. band — a music group
  7. date — the fruit
  8. clip — for paper
  9. prune — to trim
  10. ground — a position
  11. land — ground
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. prune — to trim
  14. band — a ring
  15. land — a country
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cell — in biology
  19. land — to come down
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. plane — a tool
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. ground — the earth
  24. cell — in a prison

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