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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.

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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: bear · safe · prune · clip · content · leaves · field · rest

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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. content — the amount
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. content — happy
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. rest — a break
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. bear — the animal
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. prune — to trim
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. clip — a video
  15. field — for sport
  16. rest — what's left
  17. field — a subject
  18. rest — what's left
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. field — farmland
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. prune — the fruit

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