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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  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. content — videos and posts
  2. clip — for paper
  3. fall — to drop
  4. staff — a stick
  5. fall — to drop
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. fall — the season
  8. object — an aim
  9. spring — of water
  10. staff — employees
  11. prune — to trim
  12. spring — the season
  13. field — for sport
  14. content — happy
  15. prune — to trim
  16. field — farmland
  17. object — to protest
  18. clip — a video
  19. object — a thing
  20. staff — employees
  21. field — a subject
  22. content — the amount
  23. spring — a coil
  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