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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. scale — in music
  4. prune — to trim
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. fine — all right
  7. game — a match
  8. march — the month
  9. clip — to cut
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. prune — to trim
  13. clip — a video
  14. game — wild animals
  15. clip — for paper
  16. mug — to rob
  17. mug — a cup
  18. march — the month
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. march — music
  23. scale — size or range
  24. mug — a face

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