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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. cap — a lid
  3. pop — soda
  4. present — the time now
  5. clip — to cut
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pop — to visit
  8. present — a gift
  9. clip — a video
  10. pop — music
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. present — there
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cap — of ice
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. shower — to wash
  18. pit — in a race
  19. shower — rain
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. cap — a hat
  22. game — wild animals
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. game — a match

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