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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. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. prune — to trim
  5. clip — to cut
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. perch — the fish
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — humankind
  10. sharp — clever
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. clip — for paper
  14. race — a contest
  15. plane — a tool
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. clip — a video
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. chest — a box
  22. prune — to trim
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. perch — for a bird

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