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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bound — tied together
  3. prune — to trim
  4. tear — from crying
  5. mine — for digging
  6. tear — to rip
  7. pass — a permit
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. tear — from crying
  13. row — to paddle
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. prune — to trim
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. row — a line
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. staff — employees
  21. bound — certain
  22. staff — a stick
  23. staff — employees
  24. prune — 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