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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. land — ground
  3. wake — a trail
  4. mine — for digging
  5. sharp — clever
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. rock — music
  8. prune — to trim
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. clip — to cut
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. rock — a stone
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. clip — for paper
  17. prune — to trim
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. land — to come down
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. land — a country
  24. clip — a video

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