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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bear — the animal
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. bear — the animal
  7. field — a subject
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. march — the month
  10. prune — to trim
  11. dip — to sink
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. bark — to shout
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. net — for catching
  21. field — for sport
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. field — farmland
  24. net — after costs

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