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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: season · kid · stand · shower · clip · present · prune · cell

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. clip — to cut
  3. cell — in biology
  4. present — there
  5. season — in sport
  6. present — a gift
  7. clip — a video
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. shower — to wash
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. season — of the year
  13. stand — to bear
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. present — the time now
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. cell — a phone
  21. prune — to trim
  22. clip — for paper
  23. shower — rain
  24. kid — child

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