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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pit — a hole
  4. prune — to trim
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. present — a gift
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. fall — to drop
  11. clip — a video
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. present — there
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. capital — money
  17. fall — the season
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. pit — in a race

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