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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. key — for a lock
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. key — the most important part
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. pit — a hole
  8. game — a match
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. game — wild animals
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. pit — in a race
  13. prune — to trim
  14. press — a publisher
  15. key — in music
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. clip — for paper
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. press — newspapers
  24. press — to push

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