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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. chest — a box
  9. prune — to trim
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bound — certain
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. bound — tied together
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. march — music
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — a video
  18. march — the month
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bound — obliged
  21. chest — of your body
  22. clip — for paper
  23. pound — a weight
  24. pound — to hit hard

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