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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. chest — a box
  3. prune — to trim
  4. club — a group
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. branch — a division
  7. race — humankind
  8. game — a match
  9. tear — from crying
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. chest — of your body
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. prune — to trim
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. game — wild animals
  17. race — the arms race
  18. tear — to rip
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. chest — of your body
  21. tear — from crying
  22. club — for dancing
  23. race — a contest
  24. club — for golf

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