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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rule — a law
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. content — happy
  6. race — the arms race
  7. mine — for digging
  8. wind — moving air
  9. race — humankind
  10. prune — to trim
  11. wind — moving air
  12. race — a contest
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. bark — to shout
  21. rule — government
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. content — the amount

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