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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. tear — from crying
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. spring — of water
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. tear — from crying
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cap — of ice
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cap — a hat
  14. spring — the season
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. spring — a coil
  18. cap — a lid
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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