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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cell — a phone
  5. prune — to trim
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. craft — boats
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. ground — a position
  10. ground — the earth
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. last — to go on
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. cell — in biology
  15. ground — crushed
  16. craft — a skill
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. last — finally
  21. last — final
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. pound — a weight

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