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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. hand — help
  3. land — a country
  4. bulb — for light
  5. land — to come down
  6. clip — a video
  7. prune — to trim
  8. object — an aim
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. object — a thing
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bulb — for light
  14. hand — in cards
  15. sharp — clever
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. prune — to trim
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. land — ground
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. object — to protest
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. prune — the fruit

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