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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: shower · bay · lean · tear · prune · branch · current · pound

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. lean — to bend
  8. shower — to wash
  9. current — electric
  10. tear — from crying
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. lean — thin
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. current — of water
  16. branch — a division
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. prune — to trim
  19. tear — from crying
  20. prune — to trim
  21. shower — rain
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. pound — a weight
  24. tear — to rip

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