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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. pit — in a race
  4. cell — in biology
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. clip — for paper
  7. prune — to trim
  8. march — the month
  9. branch — a division
  10. clip — to cut
  11. march — music
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. squash — the sport
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. march — the month
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. squash — to crush
  21. pit — a hole
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. cell — a phone
  24. clip — a video

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