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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. tear — from crying
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. current — of water
  6. tear — from crying
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. perch — the fish
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. deal — to handle
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. prune — to trim
  17. stem — to come from
  18. current — happening now
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. wound — an injury
  21. current — electric
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. tear — to rip

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