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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: game · prune · rest · cue · track · toast · wound · clip

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. game — a match
  3. track — a song
  4. cue — a signal
  5. rest — a break
  6. rest — what's left
  7. clip — a video
  8. wound — an injury
  9. prune — to trim
  10. cue — a hint
  11. clip — to cut
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. toast — bread
  14. game — wild animals
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rest — what's left
  19. track — to keep track
  20. cue — for pool
  21. clip — for paper
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. track — a path
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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