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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. bore — to drill
  3. race — humankind
  4. stem — to come from
  5. pound — a weight
  6. clip — for paper
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. race — the arms race
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. bore — to tire
  15. clip — a video
  16. tear — from crying
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. race — a contest
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. pound — for dogs

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