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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. tear — from crying
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. court — of law
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bass — low music
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chest — a box
  9. court — of a king
  10. track — a song
  11. track — a path
  12. tear — to rip
  13. chest — of your body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. bass — the fish
  18. chest — of your body
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. track — to keep track
  23. branch — a division
  24. court — for sport

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