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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. prune — to trim
  3. ball — a dance
  4. clip — to cut
  5. prune — to trim
  6. face — to point toward
  7. row — to paddle
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. clip — a video
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. lean — thin
  14. sharp — clever
  15. row — a line
  16. craft — boats
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. face — to confront
  20. clip — for paper
  21. ball — a great time
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. craft — a skill
  24. face — part of the head

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