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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. prune — to trim
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. net — for catching
  10. prune — to trim
  11. net — after costs
  12. clip — a video
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. game — a match
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. clip — for paper
  17. suit — in cards
  18. game — wild animals
  19. clip — to cut
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. rush — hurry
  22. net — in sport
  23. suit — to fit
  24. suit — clothes

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