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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. tube — the underground
  3. clip — for paper
  4. prune — to trim
  5. kick — in football
  6. bass — the fish
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. bass — low music
  9. prune — to trim
  10. saw — the tool
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. vault — a safe
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. clip — to cut
  19. saw — the tool
  20. tear — from crying
  21. clip — a video
  22. tube — a container
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. prune — the fruit

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