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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 120 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 have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. game — a match
  5. perch — the fish
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. game — wild animals
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. clip — a video
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. snap — to click
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. clip — for paper
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. rule — a law
  19. clip — to cut
  20. stem — to come from
  21. prune — to trim
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. rule — government

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