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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pitch — completely
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bat — the animal
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. field — for sport
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. prune — to trim
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. root — of a plant
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. field — a subject
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. lean — to bend
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. root — of a word
  22. field — farmland
  23. lean — thin
  24. root — the cause

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