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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 120 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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. pit — a hole
  3. clip — for paper
  4. prune — to trim
  5. wax — to grow
  6. last — finally
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. pit — in a race
  9. last — to go on
  10. ground — the earth
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. ground — crushed
  14. last — final
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. shower — to wash
  17. stock — goods
  18. stock — shares
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. prune — to trim
  21. clip — to cut
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. shower — rain
  24. clip — a video

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