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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: rest · mate · straw · tear · prune · charge · clip · plane

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. tear — from crying
  3. charge — in control
  4. charge — a price
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. clip — a video
  8. mate — a partner
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — a break
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. prune — to trim
  13. charge — electricity
  14. plane — a tool
  15. mate — a friend
  16. rest — what's left
  17. tear — from crying
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. mate — to breed
  20. tear — to rip
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — for paper

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