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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. club — for dancing
  3. prune — to trim
  4. season — of the year
  5. bound — obliged
  6. rock — music
  7. chest — of your body
  8. clip — to cut
  9. club — a group
  10. chest — a box
  11. bound — certain
  12. row — to paddle
  13. chest — of your body
  14. rock — a stone
  15. club — for golf
  16. row — a line
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. season — in sport
  21. prune — to trim
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. row — a quarrel

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