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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  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. clip — to cut
  2. saw — the tool
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. clip — for paper
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. present — there
  8. saw — the tool
  9. scale — in music
  10. prune — to trim
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — a gift
  13. prune — to trim
  14. swing — to play on
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — music
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — a phone
  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