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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. tear — to rip
  4. hand — in cards
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bark — to shout
  9. tear — from crying
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. prune — to trim
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. hand — help
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. wound — an injury
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. bat — the animal
  24. tear — from crying

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