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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bark — to shout
  5. prune — to trim
  6. land — a country
  7. capital — a city
  8. land — to come down
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bound — certain
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bound — obliged
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bound — tied together
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. capital — money
  22. bore — to tire
  23. bore — to drill
  24. land — ground

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