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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. net — in sport
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. tear — from crying
  8. root — of a word
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. prune — to trim
  11. root — the cause
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. march — music
  14. swing — in golf
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. swing — to play on
  17. root — of a plant
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. kick — in football
  22. net — after costs
  23. prune — to trim
  24. swing — music

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