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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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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: present · clip · prune · bear · bulb · hide · cold · perch

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bulb — for light
  4. clip — a video
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bear — the animal
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. present — there
  11. present — the time now
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. cold — not warm
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. perch — the fish
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bear — the animal
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. hide — to keep secret

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