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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. prune — to trim
  4. present — a gift
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. clip — a video
  7. spell — a short time
  8. clip — to cut
  9. mark — a trace
  10. spell — magic
  11. drill — a practice
  12. present — there
  13. cap — a hat
  14. mark — a grade
  15. cap — a lid
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. drill — the tool
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cap — of ice
  21. spell — letters
  22. clip — for paper
  23. present — the time now
  24. branch — a division

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