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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. lean — to bend
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. band — a music group
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. clip — for paper
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. clip — to cut
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. clip — a video
  14. row — a line
  15. wound — an injury
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. band — a ring
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. wound — an injury
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. row — to paddle
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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