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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. tear — to rip
  3. spell — a short time
  4. march — the month
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — magic
  7. game — a match
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. pitch — completely
  12. march — music
  13. game — wild animals
  14. prune — to trim
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. march — the month
  18. bear — the animal
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. cell — in biology
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. cell — a phone

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