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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: field · board · hand · root · fall · prune · clip · dip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. board — a committee
  3. fall — to drop
  4. root — the cause
  5. field — a subject
  6. clip — a video
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. hand — help
  9. fall — to drop
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. field — for sport
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. hand — in cards
  15. fall — the season
  16. clip — to cut
  17. dip — to sink
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. board — to get on
  21. field — farmland
  22. root — of a word
  23. prune — to trim
  24. root — of a plant

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