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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 can't ________________ this cold.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. present — there
  3. tear — from crying
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. prune — to trim
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. present — a gift
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. last — final
  12. hand — in cards
  13. prune — to trim
  14. present — the time now
  15. last — finally
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. last — to go on
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. hand — help
  23. kick — in football
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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