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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. key — the most important part
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. mine — for digging
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. clip — to cut
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. key — in music
  16. clip — a video
  17. key — for a lock
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wax — to grow
  20. prune — to trim
  21. tear — from crying
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. clip — for paper
  24. coach — a trainer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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