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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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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: hand · clip · bear · stick · prune · spring · spell · squash

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spring — of water
  4. clip — a video
  5. bear — the animal
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. spring — a coil
  9. squash — to crush
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. squash — the sport
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spell — magic
  14. clip — to cut
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. spell — letters
  21. bear — the animal
  22. clip — for paper
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. hand — help

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