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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. prune — to trim
  3. tear — to rip
  4. rush — hurry
  5. cap — a lid
  6. last — finally
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cap — of ice
  9. root — of a word
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — final
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. cap — a hat
  15. face — to point toward
  16. face — part of the head
  17. face — to confront
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. object — a thing
  20. object — an aim
  21. prune — to trim
  22. tear — from crying
  23. root — the cause
  24. root — of a plant

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