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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. clip — to cut
  5. prune — to trim
  6. shower — rain
  7. suit — in cards
  8. suit — to fit
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. ball — a dance
  12. clip — for paper
  13. suit — clothes
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. spring — of water
  16. ball — a great time
  17. shower — to wash
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — for digging
  20. spring — a coil
  21. prune — to trim
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. clip — a video
  24. stand — to bear

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