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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 knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. clip — a video
  3. chest — of your body
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. last — finally
  7. prune — to trim
  8. firm — a company
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — the sport
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. chest — of your body
  14. last — to go on
  15. squash — to crush
  16. scale — size or range
  17. last — final
  18. sharp — clever
  19. prune — to trim
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. firm — decided
  22. firm — steady
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. chest — a box

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