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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. game — wild animals
  3. content — the amount
  4. shower — to wash
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. pop — music
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. shower — rain
  9. prune — to trim
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. clip — a video
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. pop — to visit
  16. staff — employees
  17. prune — to trim
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. staff — employees
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. game — a match
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. staff — a stick
  24. content — happy

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