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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  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. rest — what's left
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. spell — magic
  4. pound — a weight
  5. tear — to rip
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. rest — a break
  11. spell — a short time
  12. rest — what's left
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. branch — a division
  15. cold — an illness
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. prune — to trim
  20. spell — letters
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fan — a supporter
  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