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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. prune — to trim
  4. clip — a video
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pound — a weight
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. prune — to trim
  19. wake — a trail
  20. bat — the animal
  21. clip — to cut
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. chair — a leader
  24. pound — to hit hard

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