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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. bound — tied together
  4. tear — from crying
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. bound — certain
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. net — for catching
  9. prune — to trim
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. prune — to trim
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. bound — obliged
  14. fall — to drop
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. fall — the season
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. net — in sport
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. cold — not warm
  23. net — after costs
  24. tear — from crying

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