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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.

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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: clip · sharp · fork · club · prune · wake · perch · saw

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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. sharp — clever
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. club — a group
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. saw — the tool
  8. clip — a video
  9. club — for golf
  10. fork — in a road
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. clip — for paper
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. club — for dancing
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. wake — a trail
  20. saw — the tool
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. clip — to cut
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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