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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rest — what's left
  3. snap — to click
  4. clip — a video
  5. ground — a position
  6. last — finally
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. ground — crushed
  9. prune — to trim
  10. rest — what's left
  11. clip — to cut
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. last — final
  15. ground — the earth
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. saw — the tool
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. rest — a break
  20. clip — for paper
  21. last — to go on
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. deal — to handle
  24. deal — a big deal

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