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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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Word bank
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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: pound · prune · net · key · row · tear · hide · object

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. object — to protest
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — to rip
  8. row — a line
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — for catching
  11. object — an aim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. row — to paddle
  15. key — the most important part
  16. net — in sport
  17. tear — from crying
  18. key — for a lock
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. object — a thing
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. key — in music
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. pound — a weight

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