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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 120 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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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: bat · cabinet · fall · kid · clip · mate · prune · root

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. root — of a plant
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. kid — child
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. prune — to trim
  13. mate — a friend
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. clip — a video
  16. root — the cause
  17. mate — to breed
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. clip — to cut
  20. mate — a partner
  21. fall — to drop
  22. root — of a word
  23. bat — in an idiom
  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