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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 120 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: hand · plane · capital · clip · club · pound · kick · prune

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. club — a group
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. prune — to trim
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. prune — to trim
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. club — for dancing
  11. capital — a city
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. club — for golf
  14. hand — help
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. capital — money
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. hand — in cards
  20. pound — a weight
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. kick — in football
  23. clip — to cut
  24. kick — a thrill

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