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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 120 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. press — a publisher
  5. perch — the fish
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bass — low music
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. tear — to rip
  11. prune — to trim
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. bass — the fish
  14. wake — a trail
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. press — newspapers
  20. mine — for digging
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. press — to push

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