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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. mine — for digging
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. kick — in football
  7. present — there
  8. march — the month
  9. present — a gift
  10. file — a tool
  11. march — the month
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — to trim
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. march — music
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. chair — a leader
  19. file — a line of people
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. file — a document
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. chair — to sit on

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