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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 carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. content — happy
  5. clip — for paper
  6. row — a line
  7. clip — a video
  8. content — the amount
  9. current — electric
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. current — happening now
  14. perch — the fish
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. current — of water
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. sharp — clever
  22. row — to paddle
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. clip — to cut

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