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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spring — the season
  4. tear — from crying
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. game — a match
  7. kid — to tease
  8. tear — to rip
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. foot — a measure
  11. kid — child
  12. spring — of water
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. prune — to trim
  15. spring — a coil
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — a division
  18. game — wild animals
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. prune — the fruit

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