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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 116 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: prune · degree · saw · clip · wind · march · stick · capital

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. capital — money
  3. wind — moving air
  4. clip — for paper
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. march — the month
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. degree — temperature
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. degree — from a university
  11. capital — a city
  12. degree — an amount
  13. saw — the tool
  14. march — music
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. saw — the tool
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. clip — to cut
  19. prune — to trim
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. clip — a video
  22. wind — moving air
  23. march — the month
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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