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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. prune — to trim
  3. clip — for paper
  4. sharp — clever
  5. drill — a practice
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. drill — the tool
  8. pop — soda
  9. clip — a video
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. prune — to trim
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. mine — for digging
  14. drill — army training
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kick — in football
  17. pop — music
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. clip — to cut
  24. pop — to visit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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