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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 116 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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. wound — an injury
  3. ball — a great time
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rest — a break
  7. ground — a position
  8. mark — a trace
  9. capital — money
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rest — what's left
  15. mark — a grade
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. wound — an injury
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. capital — a city
  23. rest — what's left
  24. ground — crushed

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