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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 120 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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. stock — shares
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. bulb — for light
  5. prune — to trim
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. clip — for paper
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. clip — to cut
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. march — music
  12. wake — a trail
  13. stock — goods
  14. clip — a video
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. fork — in a road
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. bulb — for light

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