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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. clip — for paper
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. clip — a video
  7. prune — to trim
  8. ball — a great time
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — a tool
  12. ball — a dance
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. court — of law
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. saw — the tool
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. saw — the tool
  20. court — of a king
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. clip — to cut
  23. court — for sport
  24. straw — dry grass

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