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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. clip — to cut
  3. spring — the season
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. mark — a grade
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. object — to protest
  13. clip — a video
  14. object — an aim
  15. spring — of water
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. clip — for paper
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bore — to tire
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — in music
  22. pass — a permit
  23. object — a thing
  24. bore — to drill

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