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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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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. fall — to drop
  4. pound — a weight
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. file — a document
  9. fall — to drop
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. prune — to trim
  12. tear — from crying
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. tear — to rip
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. file — a line of people
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. fall — the season
  20. tear — from crying
  21. file — a tool
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. leaves — lets stay

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