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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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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: prune · tube · fall · perch · court · cabinet · clip · band

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. court — of a king
  3. fall — to drop
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. fall — to drop
  7. court — for sport
  8. fall — the season
  9. clip — to cut
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. band — a ring
  12. tube — the underground
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. perch — the fish
  15. tube — a container
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. court — of law
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. band — a music group
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cabinet — ministers

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