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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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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: capital · mine · clip · prune · club · roll · toast · rule

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. roll — a cake
  6. clip — to cut
  7. rule — a law
  8. capital — money
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. club — a group
  12. toast — bread
  13. roll — a list
  14. rule — government
  15. club — for dancing
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. club — for golf
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. mine — for digging
  22. clip — a video
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. capital — a city

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