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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's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. shower — to wash
  3. game — a match
  4. clip — a video
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — wild animals
  7. mug — a face
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. mug — a cup
  10. prune — to trim
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. mark — a grade
  13. lie — to recline
  14. clip — for paper
  15. shower — rain
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. mug — to rob
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. clip — to cut
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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