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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. prune — to trim
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. prune — to trim
  5. land — ground
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rest — a break
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. land — a country
  13. rest — what's left
  14. hand — help
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. stand — to bear
  17. squash — to crush
  18. clip — for paper
  19. squash — the sport
  20. clip — a video
  21. rest — what's left
  22. land — to come down
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. hand — in cards

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