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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. tear — to rip
  5. land — to come down
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. lean — thin
  8. pop — soda
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. field — a subject
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. land — a country
  13. sharp — clever
  14. lean — to bend
  15. pop — to visit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. land — ground
  18. field — farmland
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. pop — music
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. field — for sport
  23. prune — to trim
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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