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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bass — low music
  3. current — of water
  4. lean — thin
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. perch — the fish
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. lean — to bend
  10. current — happening now
  11. clip — for paper
  12. chest — a box
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bass — the fish
  21. clip — a video
  22. pitch — completely
  23. current — electric
  24. lean — to rest against

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