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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. tear — from crying
  4. land — to come down
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. mate — to breed
  7. bear — the animal
  8. land — ground
  9. mate — a friend
  10. prune — to trim
  11. tear — from crying
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. prune — to trim
  14. land — a country
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bear — the animal
  17. field — for sport
  18. chest — of your body
  19. field — a subject
  20. chest — of your body
  21. mate — a partner
  22. tear — to rip
  23. field — farmland
  24. saw — the tool

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