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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rule — a law
  3. swing — to play on
  4. rule — government
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. kick — in football
  7. face — to point toward
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bear — the animal
  11. tear — from crying
  12. game — a match
  13. prune — to trim
  14. face — to confront
  15. prune — to trim
  16. face — part of the head
  17. swing — music
  18. swing — in golf
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bear — the animal
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bear — to put up with

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