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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: ball · bat · temple · prune · craft · fall · march · clip

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. ball — a dance
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. ball — a great time
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. fall — to drop
  11. prune — to trim
  12. march — the month
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. fall — the season
  15. bat — the animal
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. clip — a video
  18. fall — to drop
  19. march — the month
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. craft — a skill
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. march — music
  24. craft — boats

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