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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. stand — to bear
  4. court — of law
  5. court — for sport
  6. craft — a skill
  7. court — of a king
  8. scale — in music
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cold — an illness
  13. scale — size or range
  14. craft — boats
  15. bore — to tire
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. bore — to drill
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. tear — to rip
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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