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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bore — to tire
  7. prune — to trim
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pop — to visit
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cap — of ice
  12. game — a match
  13. fall — the season
  14. pop — soda
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. pop — music
  17. tear — to rip
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. cap — a hat
  20. pitch — completely
  21. bore — to drill
  22. fall — to drop
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — wild animals

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