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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. prune — to trim
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — the earth
  6. clip — to cut
  7. ground — crushed
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. swing — music
  10. current — happening now
  11. prune — to trim
  12. chest — a box
  13. pitch — completely
  14. swing — in golf
  15. current — electric
  16. current — of water
  17. clip — for paper
  18. chest — of your body
  19. craft — a skill
  20. clip — a video
  21. swing — to play on
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. craft — boats

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