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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — the season
  5. key — in music
  6. clip — for paper
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bound — certain
  9. bound — obliged
  10. prune — to trim
  11. saw — the tool
  12. prune — to trim
  13. saw — the tool
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. rash — hasty
  17. row — to paddle
  18. key — for a lock
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rash — a series
  21. key — the most important part
  22. bound — tied together
  23. row — a line
  24. prune — the fruit

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