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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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. prune — to trim
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. row — a line
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — to get on
  10. saw — the tool
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. sharp — clever
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. saw — the tool
  16. spring — the season
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. row — to paddle
  19. wax — to grow
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. chip — for betting
  23. prune — to trim
  24. spring — of water

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