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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. hand — in cards
  3. prune — to trim
  4. present — the time now
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. cold — not warm
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — to get on
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cold — an illness
  14. tear — from crying
  15. present — a gift
  16. present — there
  17. tear — to rip
  18. hand — help

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