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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  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. rock — a stone
  2. fall — to drop
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. tear — to rip
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. rock — music
  10. cell — in biology
  11. fall — the season
  12. cell — a phone
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. face — to point toward
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. wound — an injury
  20. prune — to trim
  21. face — to confront
  22. fall — to drop
  23. face — part of the head
  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