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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: tear · pop · stem · coach · lash · wind · prune · bear

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. bear — the animal
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. stem — to come from
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. tear — to rip
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. pop — music
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. prune — to trim
  17. tear — from crying
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. bear — the animal
  21. wind — moving air
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pop — soda
  24. wind — moving air

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