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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wound — an injury
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rash — hasty
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. wound — an injury
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. field — for sport
  13. clip — a video
  14. prune — to trim
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rash — a series
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. pass — a permit
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. field — a subject
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. field — farmland
  24. pass — to succeed

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