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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 116 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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. march — music
  4. clip — a video
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. mark — a trace
  7. clip — to cut
  8. scale — in music
  9. march — the month
  10. cell — a phone
  11. scale — size or range
  12. wind — moving air
  13. march — the month
  14. mark — a grade
  15. court — of law
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. clip — for paper
  18. court — of a king
  19. prune — to trim
  20. court — for sport
  21. cell — in biology
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. wind — moving air
  24. scale — for weighing

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