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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. file — a document
  4. rash — hasty
  5. tear — to rip
  6. file — a line of people
  7. fall — to drop
  8. prune — to trim
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. file — a tool
  12. prune — to trim
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — a video
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — to wash
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bore — to drill
  21. rash — a series
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bore — to tire

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