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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. staff — a stick
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. clip — to cut
  5. prune — to trim
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bass — the fish
  8. perch — the fish
  9. pop — to visit
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. staff — employees
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. spring — of water
  14. staff — employees
  15. bass — low music
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. hand — help
  19. clip — for paper
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. clip — a video
  22. pop — music
  23. hand — in cards
  24. 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