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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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. clip — a video
  4. last — finally
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. rest — what's left
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — a country
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. land — ground
  12. rest — what's left
  13. clip — to cut
  14. last — to go on
  15. pit — a hole
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. pit — in a race
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wind — moving air
  20. rest — a break
  21. wound — an injury
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. last — final

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