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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. row — a line
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. spring — of water
  9. tear — from crying
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. row — to paddle
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. prune — to trim
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. pound — a weight
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. pitcher — a jug

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