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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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. land — to come down
  4. tear — to rip
  5. roll — a list
  6. land — ground
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. court — for sport
  12. lie — to recline
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. pit — in a race
  15. roll — a cake
  16. court — of a king
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. pit — a hole
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. branch — a division
  21. bark — to shout
  22. land — a country
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. tear — from crying

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