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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. hand — in cards
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. toast — bread
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. wake — a trail
  9. prune — to trim
  10. clip — to cut
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. snap — to click
  13. hand — help
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. clip — for paper
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. clip — a video
  18. lie — to recline
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. mine — for digging
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. mine — belonging to me

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