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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. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. tear — from crying
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cold — an illness
  5. tear — to rip
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. prune — to trim
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cold — not warm
  10. content — happy
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. court — of law
  13. tear — from crying
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. content — the amount
  20. court — for sport
  21. branch — a division
  22. plane — a tool
  23. court — of a king
  24. branch — of a bank

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