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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. object — a thing
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. prune — to trim
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. clip — for paper
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. fork — in a road
  15. object — to protest
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. object — an aim
  24. row — a quarrel

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