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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  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. prune — to trim
  2. present — the time now
  3. clip — a video
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. present — there
  6. present — a gift
  7. last — final
  8. last — finally
  9. file — a line of people
  10. last — to go on
  11. can — a tin
  12. saw — the tool
  13. can — a tin
  14. can — to be able to
  15. file — a tool
  16. prune — to trim
  17. clip — for paper
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. saw — the tool
  23. file — a document
  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