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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. field — farmland
  5. tear — to rip
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. kid — child
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. craft — a skill
  12. squash — the sport
  13. prune — to trim
  14. row — to paddle
  15. craft — boats
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. field — a subject
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. prune — to trim
  20. field — for sport
  21. kid — to tease
  22. row — a line
  23. mark — a grade
  24. squash — to crush

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