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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 120 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: prune · pit · clip · cold · fork · ball · pass · squash

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. clip — for paper
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. pit — a hole
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. pit — in a race
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. pass — a permit
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. fork — in a road
  13. squash — the sport
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cold — an illness
  17. ball — a dance
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. cold — not warm
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. ball — a great time

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