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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. prune — to trim
  3. court — for sport
  4. clip — to cut
  5. band — a ring
  6. craft — boats
  7. lean — thin
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. craft — a skill
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. prune — to trim
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. court — of a king
  14. clip — for paper
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. band — a music group
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. court — of law
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. clip — a video
  24. calf — a young animal

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