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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. squash — to crush
  5. file — a tool
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. cap — a hat
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. file — a line of people
  14. pitch — completely
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. squash — the sport
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. file — a document
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cap — a lid
  22. cap — of ice
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. prune — to trim

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