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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bulb — for light
  6. tear — from crying
  7. net — for catching
  8. tear — from crying
  9. stem — to come from
  10. prune — to trim
  11. tear — to rip
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. net — in sport
  14. bulb — for light
  15. hand — in cards
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — army training
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. net — after costs
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. drill — a practice
  22. saw — the tool
  23. hand — help
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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