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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wind — moving air
  4. march — music
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — an amount
  7. march — the month
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. craft — boats
  10. prune — to trim
  11. wind — moving air
  12. clip — a video
  13. march — the month
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. degree — from a university
  18. lean — to bend
  19. craft — a skill
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. lean — thin
  22. clip — to cut
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. lie — to recline

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