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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: clip · can · present · prune · race · season · file · cell

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. can — to be able to
  4. file — a tool
  5. cell — a phone
  6. prune — to trim
  7. race — the arms race
  8. season — in sport
  9. file — a line of people
  10. clip — a video
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. cell — in biology
  13. race — a contest
  14. prune — to trim
  15. present — a gift
  16. present — there
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. season — of the year
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. file — a document
  21. can — a tin
  22. can — a tin
  23. race — humankind
  24. present — the time now

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