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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: content · roll · clip · branch · prune · bay · last · cell

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. roll — a cake
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. content — happy
  14. cell — a phone
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. prune — to trim
  17. last — to go on
  18. clip — a video
  19. roll — a list
  20. content — the amount
  21. last — finally
  22. cell — in biology
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. last — final

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