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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. net — in sport
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. prune — to trim
  5. tear — from crying
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — after costs
  10. last — finally
  11. tear — from crying
  12. last — to go on
  13. prune — to trim
  14. scale — size or range
  15. firm — decided
  16. kick — in football
  17. firm — a company
  18. firm — steady
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. scale — in music
  22. tear — to rip
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. kick — with a leg

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