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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. bore — to drill
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bore — to tire
  5. tear — from crying
  6. squash — the sport
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. tear — to rip
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. row — to paddle
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. row — a line
  14. branch — a division
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. squash — to crush
  17. tear — from crying
  18. squash — the vegetable

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