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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. degree — an amount
  3. prune — to trim
  4. face — to confront
  5. bulb — for light
  6. clip — to cut
  7. track — a song
  8. bulb — for light
  9. last — final
  10. track — a path
  11. prune — to trim
  12. face — part of the head
  13. track — to keep track
  14. clip — a video
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. last — finally
  17. drill — army training
  18. last — to go on
  19. drill — a practice
  20. drill — the tool
  21. degree — temperature
  22. face — to point toward
  23. degree — from a university
  24. clip — for paper

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