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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. prune — to trim
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. tear — to rip
  6. mine — for digging
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. wind — moving air
  9. game — wild animals
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. game — a match
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. prune — to trim
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bore — to tire
  19. rush — hurry
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. wind — moving air
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. prune — the fruit

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