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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. clip — a video
  3. pound — a weight
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mate — a friend
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. scale — size or range
  14. prune — to trim
  15. snap — to click
  16. mate — to breed
  17. mate — a partner
  18. cell — in biology
  19. clip — to cut
  20. cell — a phone
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. scale — in music
  23. cold — an illness
  24. scale — for weighing

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