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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. march — music
  3. pit — a hole
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — wild animals
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. march — the month
  11. march — the month
  12. game — a match
  13. pit — in a race
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. craft — boats
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. present — the time now
  21. mine — for digging
  22. craft — a skill
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. present — there

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