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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. prune — to trim
  3. row — to paddle
  4. prune — to trim
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. row — a line
  7. clip — a video
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. game — wild animals
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. root — of a plant
  12. last — to go on
  13. pit — a hole
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. last — finally
  16. root — of a word
  17. game — a match
  18. root — the cause
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. last — final
  21. pit — in a race
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bat — the animal

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