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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rest — a break
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. degree — from a university
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. rest — what's left
  10. fall — the season
  11. degree — temperature
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. tear — to rip
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. rest — what's left
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. tear — from crying
  19. kid — to tease
  20. degree — an amount
  21. kid — child
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. prune — to trim

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