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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: tear · chair · band · sharp · craft · prune · content · clip

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. sharp — clever
  4. clip — for paper
  5. content — happy
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chair — a leader
  8. band — a music group
  9. craft — boats
  10. clip — to cut
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. tear — from crying
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. content — the amount
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. prune — to trim
  20. clip — a video
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. craft — a skill

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