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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 116 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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. clip — to cut
  3. prune — to trim
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — a group
  6. prune — to trim
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. clip — a video
  9. squash — the sport
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. drill — the tool
  13. club — for dancing
  14. squash — to crush
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. pound — a weight
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bass — low music
  23. bass — the fish
  24. drill — a practice

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