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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. tear — to rip
  3. court — of a king
  4. shower — to wash
  5. prune — to trim
  6. race — humankind
  7. tear — from crying
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. hand — in cards
  11. race — a contest
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. court — for sport
  15. hand — help
  16. tear — from crying
  17. prune — to trim
  18. court — of law
  19. shower — rain
  20. season — of the year
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. race — the arms race

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