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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. prune — to trim
  3. kid — child
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — for digging
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. prune — to trim
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. kid — to tease
  10. chair — a leader
  11. clip — a video
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. toast — bread
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. deal — to handle
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. clip — to cut
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. clip — for paper
  24. deal — an agreement

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