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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 124 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 ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — of law
  4. prune — to trim
  5. swing — in golf
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. swing — music
  8. wind — moving air
  9. spring — the season
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. swing — to play on
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. spring — of water
  16. court — for sport
  17. spring — a coil
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. tear — from crying

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