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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. spring — the season
  3. tear — from crying
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. spring — a coil
  7. toast — bread
  8. lean — to bend
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bass — low music
  12. pound — a weight
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. lean — thin
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. tear — from crying
  18. spring — of water
  19. prune — to trim
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. prune — to trim
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — a video
  24. tear — to rip

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