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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. tear — to rip
  3. cap — a lid
  4. tear — from crying
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bark — to shout
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. field — for sport
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. field — farmland
  15. prune — to trim
  16. band — a music group
  17. field — a subject
  18. spring — the season
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cap — a hat
  22. tear — from crying
  23. spring — of water
  24. band — a ring

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