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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 116 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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. dip — to sink
  3. land — a country
  4. track — a song
  5. court — of law
  6. file — a document
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. file — a line of people
  12. court — for sport
  13. rush — hurry
  14. file — a tool
  15. land — ground
  16. land — to come down
  17. tear — to rip
  18. track — to keep track
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. prune — to trim
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. track — a path
  24. court — of a king

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