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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. face — part of the head
  3. face — to point toward
  4. squash — the sport
  5. face — to confront
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. tear — from crying
  9. fall — to drop
  10. kid — child
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. tear — to rip
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. net — after costs
  17. squash — to crush
  18. prune — to trim
  19. tear — from crying
  20. fall — to drop
  21. kid — to tease
  22. fall — the season
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — in sport

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