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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cue — a hint
  3. object — to protest
  4. degree — from a university
  5. object — an aim
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. object — a thing
  8. bark — to shout
  9. field — a subject
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. fork — in a road
  13. field — farmland
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. degree — temperature
  16. prune — to trim
  17. perch — the fish
  18. cue — for pool
  19. cue — a signal
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. field — for sport
  24. degree — an 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