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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. cell — in biology
  3. ground — the earth
  4. clip — a video
  5. prune — to trim
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. pit — in a race
  8. cell — a phone
  9. pitch — completely
  10. pit — a hole
  11. clip — for paper
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — a position
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pop — soda
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pop — music
  20. pop — to visit
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. fork — in a road
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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