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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. staff — employees
  3. tube — the underground
  4. hand — help
  5. object — a thing
  6. chair — a leader
  7. staff — a stick
  8. court — for sport
  9. staff — employees
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. court — of law
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tear — to rip
  15. object — an aim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. hand — in cards
  18. tube — a container
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. object — to protest
  22. tear — from crying
  23. prune — to trim
  24. court — of a king

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