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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. tear — to rip
  6. staff — employees
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. perch — the fish
  11. staff — employees
  12. tear — from crying
  13. wind — moving air
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. staff — a stick
  16. toast — bread
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. cold — an illness
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cold — not warm
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wind — moving air
  23. prune — to trim
  24. ruler — for measuring

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