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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. present — there
  4. clip — a video
  5. present — the time now
  6. clip — to cut
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. charge — in control
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a match
  13. clip — for paper
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. sharp — clever
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. band — a music group
  18. prune — to trim
  19. charge — a price
  20. present — a gift
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. band — a ring
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. charge — electricity

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