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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 116 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 lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. land — ground
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. land — a country
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. net — after costs
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. prune — to trim
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. tear — from crying
  16. branch — a division
  17. march — music
  18. tear — from crying
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. march — the month
  21. tear — to rip
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. land — to come down
  24. march — the month

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