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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: row · degree · fine · clip · prune · bound · cell · court

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cell — a phone
  5. fine — all right
  6. degree — temperature
  7. row — to paddle
  8. court — of a king
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — from a university
  11. clip — to cut
  12. court — for sport
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bound — tied together
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. court — of law
  17. fine — high quality
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bound — certain
  20. row — a line
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bound — obliged
  23. clip — a video
  24. prune — to trim

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