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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. scale — size or range
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. cell — in biology
  5. wake — a trail
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cell — a phone
  8. squash — to crush
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. hand — in cards
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. squash — the sport
  16. swing — music
  17. hand — help
  18. swing — in golf
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. scale — in music
  21. tear — from crying
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. tear — from crying
  24. swing — to play on

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