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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. pound — a weight
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — in biology
  6. row — a line
  7. cell — a phone
  8. fall — to drop
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. row — to paddle
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. fall — to drop
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. prune — to trim
  21. mine — for digging
  22. fall — the season
  23. prune — to trim
  24. row — a quarrel

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