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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. club — a group
  3. spring — a coil
  4. club — for dancing
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. last — final
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. prune — to trim
  9. clip — to cut
  10. race — the arms race
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. clip — a video
  14. last — finally
  15. prune — to trim
  16. spring — of water
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. race — a contest
  19. spring — the season
  20. race — humankind
  21. plane — a tool
  22. last — to go on
  23. club — for golf
  24. straw — a straw man

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