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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. prune — to trim
  3. tear — from crying
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. march — the month
  6. prune — to trim
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. march — music
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. foot — a measure
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. march — the month
  16. row — to paddle
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. row — a line

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