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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wound — an injury
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. lean — to bend
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. saw — the tool
  9. game — wild animals
  10. band — a ring
  11. lean — thin
  12. band — a music group
  13. saw — the tool
  14. prune — to trim
  15. wound — an injury
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. game — a match
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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