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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 116 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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. kid — to tease
  3. prune — to trim
  4. field — farmland
  5. prune — to trim
  6. field — a subject
  7. object — an aim
  8. field — for sport
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. object — a thing
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. object — to protest
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. kid — child

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