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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. root — of a plant
  3. root — the cause
  4. clip — a video
  5. tear — to rip
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. prune — to trim
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. prune — to trim
  13. root — of a word
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. plane — a tool
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. perch — the fish
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. clip — for paper
  23. band — a music group
  24. band — a ring

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