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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. rock — a stone
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — a video
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. tear — from crying
  11. court — of a king
  12. press — a publisher
  13. prune — to trim
  14. clip — for paper
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. press — to push
  18. press — newspapers
  19. court — for sport
  20. tear — to rip
  21. rock — music
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. court — of law
  24. tear — from crying

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