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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. saw — the tool
  3. game — wild animals
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. pop — music
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. wake — a trail
  11. prune — to trim
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pop — to visit
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. mine — for digging
  18. prune — to trim
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. game — a match
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. mouse — for a computer

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