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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. degree — temperature
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — the amount
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. content — happy
  14. prune — to trim
  15. drill — army training
  16. degree — from a university
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. deal — to handle
  20. drill — a practice
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. drill — the tool
  23. degree — an amount
  24. clip — a video

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