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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. branch — a division
  4. kick — in football
  5. tear — from crying
  6. prune — to trim
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. tear — from crying
  10. prune — to trim
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. scale — in music
  13. stand — to bear
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. squash — to crush
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. squash — the sport
  21. scale — size or range
  22. tear — to rip
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. kick — with a leg

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