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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. root — the cause
  3. rock — a stone
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. root — of a word
  6. content — happy
  7. shower — rain
  8. prune — to trim
  9. tear — to rip
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. root — of a plant
  13. stock — goods
  14. rock — music
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. tear — from crying
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. shower — to wash
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. stock — shares
  21. content — the amount
  22. tear — from crying
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. date — the fruit

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