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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 116 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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. scale — size or range
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. club — for dancing
  8. club — for golf
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. spring — of water
  11. scale — in music
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bear — the animal
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. clip — to cut
  16. spring — the season
  17. bear — the animal
  18. prune — the fruit

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