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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. rest — a break
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. clip — a video
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. press — to push
  9. clip — for paper
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. rest — what's left
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mine — for digging
  14. perch — the fish
  15. date — the fruit
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. press — a publisher
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. press — newspapers
  24. clip — to cut

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