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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: tear · race · fall · chest · prune · club

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. club — for golf
  4. tear — to rip
  5. club — for dancing
  6. fall — to drop
  7. club — a group
  8. race — humankind
  9. fall — the season
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — the arms race
  12. chest — a box
  13. chest — of your body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. chest — of your body
  16. prune — to trim
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fall — to drop

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