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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. tear — from crying
  3. prune — to trim
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. file — a tool
  7. cell — in biology
  8. deal — to handle
  9. file — a document
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cell — a phone
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. degree — from a university
  16. file — a line of people
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. mark — a grade
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. degree — an amount
  24. mark — a trace

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