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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 124 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. clip — a video
  6. object — to protest
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. prune — to trim
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. key — the most important part
  16. key — for a lock
  17. object — a thing
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — in music
  20. bark — to shout
  21. key — in music
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. object — an aim
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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