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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. scale — size or range
  3. clip — to cut
  4. prune — to trim
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. pound — a weight
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. stock — shares
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. clip — a video
  12. swing — to play on
  13. rule — government
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. scale — in music
  16. rule — a law
  17. stock — goods
  18. swing — music
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. clip — for paper
  21. hand — help
  22. swing — in golf
  23. hand — in cards
  24. rule — to rule out

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