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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: saw · prune · land · cap · pass · tear · wake · pit

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. wake — a trail
  4. pass — a permit
  5. prune — to trim
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cap — a hat
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. pit — a hole
  13. land — to come down
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — of ice
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. land — ground
  21. pit — in a race
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. land — a country

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