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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 120 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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. prune — to trim
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. race — a contest
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. race — the arms race
  8. file — a tool
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. tear — from crying
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. race — humankind
  14. tear — from crying
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. stem — to come from
  18. file — a document
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. file — a line of people
  21. tear — to rip
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. prune — to trim
  24. sharp — clever

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