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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 116 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: club · tear · row · prune · present · mine

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. present — a gift
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. tear — to rip
  6. present — there
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for golf
  9. club — for dancing
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. tear — from crying
  12. row — to paddle
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. tear — from crying
  17. prune — to trim
  18. present — the time now

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