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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 124 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 you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. prune — to trim
  5. net — in sport
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. game — wild animals
  8. bark — to shout
  9. mark — a grade
  10. net — for catching
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. dip — to sink
  13. net — after costs
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. hand — in cards
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. game — a match
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. mark — a trace
  24. pass — a permit

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