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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kick — in football
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. spring — the season
  9. ground — crushed
  10. spring — of water
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bat — the animal
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. ground — a position
  15. ball — a great time
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. tear — to rip
  18. ball — a dance
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. ground — the earth
  23. spring — a coil
  24. kick — with a leg

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