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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: clip · field · rule · roll · game · squash · present · prune

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. field — farmland
  5. clip — for paper
  6. present — there
  7. clip — to cut
  8. roll — a list
  9. prune — to trim
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. game — wild animals
  12. squash — the sport
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. field — a subject
  15. squash — to crush
  16. roll — a cake
  17. prune — to trim
  18. present — the time now
  19. present — a gift
  20. rule — government
  21. game — a match
  22. clip — a video
  23. field — for sport
  24. game — a kind of play

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