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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: staff · prune · cap · shower · mug · pitch · clip · land

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  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. mug — a cup
  2. mug — a face
  3. prune — to trim
  4. clip — for paper
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cap — a hat
  7. mug — to rob
  8. land — ground
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. clip — a video
  11. staff — a stick
  12. land — a country
  13. pitch — completely
  14. staff — employees
  15. shower — to wash
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cap — a lid
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. land — to come down
  22. shower — rain
  23. staff — employees
  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