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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: cap · prune · pitch · tear · cold · kid · pound · mark

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. mark — a grade
  7. cold — an illness
  8. prune — to trim
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. cap — a hat
  11. kid — child
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. tear — from crying
  14. kid — to tease
  15. tear — from crying
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. cap — a lid
  20. mark — a trace
  21. cap — of ice
  22. pound — a weight
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cold — the Cold War

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