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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. capital — a city
  5. clip — to cut
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. mate — to breed
  9. saw — the tool
  10. mate — a partner
  11. mug — a cup
  12. file — a document
  13. mug — a face
  14. clip — for paper
  15. row — to paddle
  16. mug — to rob
  17. saw — the tool
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. clip — a video
  22. capital — money
  23. mate — a friend
  24. capital — a big letter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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