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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  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. mate — to breed
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. squash — the sport
  5. bound — tied together
  6. last — final
  7. drill — the tool
  8. last — finally
  9. bound — obliged
  10. mate — a partner
  11. squash — to crush
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. mate — a friend
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. drill — army training
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. bark — to shout
  18. stem — to come from
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. bound — certain
  22. last — to go on
  23. prune — the fruit
  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