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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: object · face · wave · race · prune · staff · pop · tear

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. staff — employees
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. tear — from crying
  5. staff — a stick
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. face — to confront
  8. race — humankind
  9. pop — to visit
  10. tear — to rip
  11. race — a contest
  12. race — the arms race
  13. prune — to trim
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to point toward
  17. pop — soda
  18. staff — employees
  19. tear — from crying
  20. object — a thing
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. object — to protest
  23. pop — music
  24. object — an aim

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