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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. wax — to grow
  5. pit — a hole
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — to tease
  10. prune — to trim
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. season — in sport
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. row — to paddle
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pit — in a race
  20. clip — a video
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. season — of the year

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