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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. tear — from crying
  6. prune — to trim
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. staff — employees
  9. tear — to rip
  10. last — finally
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — final
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. shower — rain
  15. hand — in cards
  16. staff — a stick
  17. shower — to wash
  18. hand — help
  19. staff — employees
  20. tear — from crying
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. net — for catching
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. prune — to trim

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