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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wake — a trail
  5. mate — to breed
  6. clip — a video
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. mate — a partner
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. can — a tin
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mate — a friend
  15. prune — to trim
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. clip — to cut
  18. sharp — clever
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. can — to be able to
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. can — a tin
  24. mine — an explosive

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