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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. perch — the fish
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. clip — to cut
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — what's left
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. clip — a video
  15. rest — a break
  16. clip — for paper
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. prune — to trim

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