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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 120 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. prune — to trim
  3. present — there
  4. tear — from crying
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. tear — from crying
  9. drill — a practice
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. drill — army training
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. present — the time now
  14. mine — for digging
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. drill — the tool
  23. chair — a leader
  24. present — a gift

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