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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. march — the month
  3. clip — a video
  4. toast — bread
  5. prune — to trim
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. clip — for paper
  8. march — the month
  9. race — humankind
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. swing — to play on
  12. clip — to cut
  13. race — the arms race
  14. row — a line
  15. key — in music
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. key — the most important part
  20. race — a contest
  21. march — music
  22. key — for a lock
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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