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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 124 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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. ball — a great time
  3. tear — from crying
  4. ground — crushed
  5. pit — a hole
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. tear — to rip
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. row — a line
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. snap — to click
  13. net — after costs
  14. ground — the earth
  15. net — for catching
  16. row — to paddle
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. pit — in a race
  20. ground — a position
  21. tear — from crying
  22. net — in sport
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. prune — to trim

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