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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: rule · firm · prune · season · tear · chest · bat · root

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. root — of a word
  3. firm — a company
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bat — the animal
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. season — in sport
  9. rule — government
  10. prune — to trim
  11. rule — a law
  12. root — the cause
  13. tear — from crying
  14. chest — of your body
  15. tear — to rip
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. firm — decided
  20. root — of a plant
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. firm — steady
  24. chest — a box

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