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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. stand — to bear
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pop — soda
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. scale — in music
  9. prune — to trim
  10. clip — a video
  11. game — a match
  12. pop — music
  13. march — the month
  14. plane — a tool
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. scale — size or range
  18. march — the month
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pop — to visit
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. clip — for paper
  23. march — music
  24. prune — the fruit

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