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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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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 · rule · toast · band · branch · wave · prune · staff

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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. staff — employees
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. band — a music group
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. band — a ring
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. toast — bread
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. staff — employees
  14. rule — government
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. branch — a division
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. staff — a stick
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. rule — a law
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. clip — to cut
  24. band — a rubber band

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