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

Word bank: last · craft · rest · cell · tear · prune

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. tear — from crying
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. rest — what's left
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rest — what's left
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. last — to go on
  12. cell — in biology
  13. craft — a skill
  14. craft — boats
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. tear — to rip
  17. rest — a break
  18. cell — in a prison

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