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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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. season — of the year
  3. tear — from crying
  4. march — the month
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. prune — to trim
  7. march — the month
  8. cell — a phone
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. season — in sport
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. march — music
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cell — in biology
  18. prune — to trim
  19. dip — to sink
  20. land — to come down
  21. tear — to rip
  22. land — a country
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. land — ground

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