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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. spring — of water
  3. face — to point toward
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bank — for money
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bank — of a river
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. face — part of the head
  11. face — to confront
  12. board — to get on
  13. board — a committee
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. court — of law
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bank — for money
  19. degree — temperature
  20. court — of a king
  21. spring — the season
  22. court — for sport
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. prune — the fruit

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