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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. shower — rain
  3. field — for sport
  4. drill — army training
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. squash — the sport
  7. drill — the tool
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. wound — an injury
  10. field — a subject
  11. prune — to trim
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. bark — to shout
  14. prune — to trim
  15. pit — in a race
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. squash — to crush
  19. field — farmland
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. drill — a practice
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. shower — to wash
  24. wound — an injury

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