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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — wild animals
  5. firm — decided
  6. track — to keep track
  7. last — final
  8. last — finally
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. game — a match
  11. track — a song
  12. clip — to cut
  13. last — to go on
  14. lean — thin
  15. firm — a company
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. hand — help
  20. firm — steady
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. hand — in cards
  23. prune — to trim
  24. track — a path

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