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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. pound — a weight
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. press — a publisher
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. tear — to rip
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cold — an illness
  13. press — newspapers
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. press — to push
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pound — to hit hard

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