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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: straw · mark · game · prune · chest · leaves · tear · lash

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. mark — a grade
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. chest — of your body
  10. prune — to trim
  11. tear — to rip
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. game — wild animals
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. tear — from crying
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chest — a box
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. mark — a trace
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. game — a match
  24. tear — from crying

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