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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: shower · arm · bat · prune · clip · face · last · ruler

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bat — the animal
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. shower — rain
  7. last — final
  8. last — finally
  9. face — to point toward
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. clip — a video
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. shower — to wash
  15. clip — to cut
  16. prune — to trim
  17. face — to confront
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. last — to go on
  20. face — part of the head
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. ruler — for measuring

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