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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. ball — a great time
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. clip — a video
  5. suit — to fit
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. suit — in cards
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pitch — completely
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. present — a gift
  14. suit — clothes
  15. present — the time now
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. game — wild animals
  19. game — a match
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. rash — a series
  22. present — there
  23. ball — a dance
  24. rash — hasty

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