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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: file · bat · tear · prune · face · bore · mine · stock

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. prune — to trim
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bat — the animal
  5. face — to point toward
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. bore — to tire
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. file — a document
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. face — part of the head
  17. file — a tool
  18. stock — goods
  19. prune — to trim
  20. file — a line of people
  21. stock — shares
  22. face — to confront
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. stock — a soup base

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