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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: snap · prune · present · clip · branch · file · plane · kid

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. file — a tool
  3. plane — a tool
  4. snap — to click
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. prune — to trim
  7. clip — a video
  8. prune — to trim
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. branch — a division
  12. file — a line of people
  13. present — a gift
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. present — there
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — to cut
  21. file — a document
  22. kid — child
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. plane — in geometry

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