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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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Word bank
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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 · tear · stock · rush · wound · prune · bulb · degree

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. prune — to trim
  3. degree — from a university
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. saw — the tool
  6. stock — goods
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. wound — an injury
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. degree — temperature
  12. saw — the tool
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bulb — for light
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. degree — an amount
  21. bulb — for light
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wound — an injury
  24. prune — to trim

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