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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. prune — to trim
  3. land — to come down
  4. shower — to wash
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. prune — to trim
  8. land — a country
  9. present — the time now
  10. pit — in a race
  11. wax — to grow
  12. bound — tied together
  13. present — a gift
  14. land — ground
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. present — there
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. pit — a hole
  20. bound — certain
  21. bound — obliged
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. tear — from crying
  24. shower — rain

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