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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. tear — to rip
  3. march — music
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. march — the month
  8. degree — an amount
  9. court — of a king
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. court — of law
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wind — moving air
  17. degree — temperature
  18. march — the month
  19. pound — a weight
  20. degree — from a university
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. prune — to trim
  24. wave — of the sea

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