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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. court — of law
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. prune — to trim
  8. pit — a hole
  9. court — for sport
  10. pit — in a race
  11. dip — to sink
  12. kid — child
  13. rock — music
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. prune — to trim
  18. kid — to tease
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. court — of a king
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. rock — a stone

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