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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. prune — to trim
  4. clip — for paper
  5. key — for a lock
  6. mine — for digging
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. key — in music
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. key — the most important part
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. rash — hasty
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. prune — to trim
  17. tube — a container
  18. tube — the underground
  19. rash — a series
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. clip — a video
  22. squash — to crush
  23. squash — the sport
  24. clip — to cut

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