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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wound · roll · prune · chair · pit · mug · game · clip

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. mug — a face
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. wound — an injury
  11. prune — to trim
  12. pit — in a race
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. pit — a hole
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. mug — to rob
  18. mug — a cup
  19. clip — for paper
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. wound — an injury
  22. roll — a cake
  23. roll — a list
  24. roll — on a roll

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