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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. court — for sport
  3. lie — to recline
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. court — of law
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wound — an injury
  9. rash — a series
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. tear — from crying
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. prune — to trim
  15. court — of a king
  16. rash — hasty
  17. key — the most important part
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. fork — in a road
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. key — in music
  22. wound — an injury
  23. key — for a lock
  24. tear — to rip

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