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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 116 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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. squash — the sport
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. squash — to crush
  9. clip — a video
  10. net — in sport
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. clip — to cut
  13. swing — to play on
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. swing — in golf
  16. prune — to trim
  17. net — for catching
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bore — to tire
  20. net — after costs
  21. cell — in biology
  22. lie — to recline
  23. bore — to drill
  24. swing — music

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