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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 120 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: dip · content · mug · root · wind · tear · prune · track

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. dip — to sink
  4. tear — from crying
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. content — the amount
  8. tear — from crying
  9. mug — a face
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. track — a song
  12. mug — to rob
  13. content — happy
  14. track — to keep track
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. track — a path
  17. root — of a word
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. mug — a cup
  21. root — the cause
  22. tear — to rip
  23. prune — to trim
  24. root — of a plant

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