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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 · ruler · fine · prune · squash · bat · degree · rest

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. prune — to trim
  3. fine — high quality
  4. clip — for paper
  5. rest — what's left
  6. clip — to cut
  7. degree — temperature
  8. rest — what's left
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. bat — the animal
  11. degree — from a university
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. squash — the sport
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. fine — all right
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. rest — a break
  21. prune — to trim
  22. clip — a video
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. degree — an amount

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