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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. object — an aim
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. prune — to trim
  5. object — a thing
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. present — the time now
  8. present — there
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. object — to protest
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. lean — thin
  20. lean — to bend
  21. bark — to shout
  22. cell — in biology
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cell — a phone

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