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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: rush · lie · mine · saw · land · prune · kick · clip

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. land — to come down
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. saw — the tool
  7. rush — hurry
  8. clip — for paper
  9. kick — in football
  10. clip — a video
  11. land — ground
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. prune — to trim
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. mine — for digging
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. lie — to recline
  21. clip — to cut
  22. land — a country
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. saw — the tool

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