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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. clip — for paper
  3. chest — of your body
  4. content — the amount
  5. chest — of your body
  6. kid — to tease
  7. ground — a position
  8. fine — all right
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. suit — to fit
  11. clip — to cut
  12. content — happy
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. fine — high quality
  15. ground — the earth
  16. clip — a video
  17. chest — a box
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. ground — crushed
  20. suit — in cards
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. suit — clothes
  24. kid — child

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