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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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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: saw · squash · hand · prune · foot · pop · clip · sharp

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. clip — to cut
  5. prune — to trim
  6. sharp — clever
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. prune — to trim
  9. hand — help
  10. clip — a video
  11. pop — music
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. pop — to visit
  14. foot — a measure
  15. clip — for paper
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. squash — to crush
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. pop — soda
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. hand — in cards
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. saw — the tool

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