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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. row — a line
  3. cap — a lid
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. cap — a hat
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. game — a match
  10. game — wild animals
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wound — an injury
  13. clip — to cut
  14. prune — to trim
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cap — of ice
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. lean — thin
  20. clip — a video
  21. lean — to bend
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. row — to paddle

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