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

Word bank: tear · last · lean · pound · rule · spring · prune · plane

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. spring — a coil
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. tear — from crying
  5. last — final
  6. lean — thin
  7. last — finally
  8. pound — a weight
  9. lean — to bend
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. tear — from crying
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. prune — to trim
  16. rule — government
  17. rule — a law
  18. plane — a tool
  19. spring — the season
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. tear — to rip
  22. last — to go on
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. spring — of water

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