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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. field — a subject
  3. tear — to rip
  4. lean — to bend
  5. stem — to come from
  6. lean — thin
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. board — a committee
  9. prune — to trim
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. field — for sport
  12. clip — for paper
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. board — to get on
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. field — farmland
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. clip — a video
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. clip — to cut
  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