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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. craft — boats
  3. bass — low music
  4. rash — hasty
  5. wound — an injury
  6. clip — a video
  7. wax — to grow
  8. clip — for paper
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bass — the fish
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. clip — to cut
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. wound — an injury
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. craft — a skill
  24. rash — a series

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