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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. cold — not warm
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wake — a trail
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. ground — the earth
  7. land — to come down
  8. prune — to trim
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cold — an illness
  12. land — ground
  13. tear — from crying
  14. land — a country
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. ground — crushed
  19. tear — to rip
  20. ground — a position
  21. fall — to drop
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. stand — to bear
  24. tear — from crying

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