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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 124 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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Word bank
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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. chair — a leader
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. track — a song
  7. track — a path
  8. mug — a face
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. mug — to rob
  12. mug — a cup
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. cold — an illness
  19. tear — from crying
  20. prune — to trim
  21. wind — moving air
  22. track — to keep track
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wind — moving air

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