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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. bark — to shout
  4. prune — to trim
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. spell — letters
  8. spell — a short time
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. shower — rain
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. rule — government
  15. prune — to trim
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. spell — magic
  19. scale — in music
  20. sharp — clever
  21. rule — a law
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. scale — size or range

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