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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. clip — to cut
  3. prune — to trim
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. clip — a video
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a music group
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. spell — magic
  13. clip — for paper
  14. spell — letters
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. ground — a position
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. wake — a trail
  19. band — a ring
  20. march — music
  21. spell — a short time
  22. prune — to trim
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. ground — crushed

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