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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. bank — of a river
  4. tear — to rip
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. prune — to trim
  7. dip — to sink
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stock — goods
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. prune — to trim
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bank — for money
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. bank — for money
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. cold — an illness

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