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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. pop — music
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. clip — to cut
  8. prune — to trim
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. bat — the animal
  14. kid — to tease
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. date — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. pop — soda
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bulb — for light
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. kid — child

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