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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. march — the month
  6. date — the fruit
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. shower — to wash
  11. wake — a trail
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. prune — to trim
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. shower — rain
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. march — music
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. march — the month
  23. content — happy
  24. prune — to trim

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