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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. present — there
  3. wound — an injury
  4. court — of law
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. scale — size or range
  7. prune — to trim
  8. court — of a king
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. court — for sport
  13. present — a gift
  14. pop — soda
  15. prune — to trim
  16. scale — in music
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. pop — to visit
  19. clip — to cut
  20. present — the time now
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — finally
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. last — final

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