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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: tear · shower · spring · present · prune · foot · cap · pit

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. prune — to trim
  3. present — a gift
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. cap — a lid
  6. foot — a measure
  7. tear — from crying
  8. spring — a coil
  9. tear — from crying
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. spring — the season
  13. pit — in a race
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cap — a hat
  16. shower — rain
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. tear — to rip
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. spring — of water
  21. shower — to wash
  22. present — there
  23. pit — a hole
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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