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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. track — a path
  4. prune — to trim
  5. clip — to cut
  6. prune — to trim
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. game — a match
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. root — of a plant
  13. track — a song
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — a video
  16. root — of a word
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — wild animals
  19. track — to keep track
  20. root — the cause
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. deal — to handle

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