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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. squash — to crush
  3. stem — to come from
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. tube — a container
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. tube — the underground
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bark — to shout
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. rush — hurry
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. cold — not warm
  24. tube — in a tire

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