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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: wind · sharp · wound · cap · ruler · tear · hide · prune

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. cap — a lid
  3. prune — to trim
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. wind — moving air
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wind — moving air
  16. prune — to trim
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. tear — from crying
  22. sharp — clever
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cap — of ice

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