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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: last · capital · clip · plane · current · saw · prune · stock

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. prune — to trim
  3. current — happening now
  4. clip — to cut
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. saw — the tool
  7. stock — shares
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. saw — the tool
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. clip — a video
  12. capital — a city
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. stock — goods
  15. plane — a tool
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. last — finally
  18. clip — for paper
  19. last — to go on
  20. current — electric
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. capital — money
  23. current — of water
  24. prune — to trim

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