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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 120 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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. prune — to trim
  5. clip — a video
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. drill — the tool
  8. drill — a practice
  9. drill — army training
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wake — a trail
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. court — for sport
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. court — of law
  17. land — a country
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. land — to come down
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. court — of a king
  22. clip — to cut
  23. land — ground
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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