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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 120 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. bark — to shout
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. scale — size or range
  10. tear — to rip
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. scale — in music
  14. tear — from crying
  15. pitch — completely
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. wind — moving air
  18. sharp — clever
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. wind — moving air
  21. kick — in football
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. tear — from crying

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