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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rule — a law
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. bark — to shout
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. capital — money
  11. rule — government
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — crushed
  14. prune — to trim
  15. capital — a city
  16. press — to push
  17. press — newspapers
  18. wound — an injury
  19. ground — a position
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wound — an injury
  22. press — a publisher
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. capital — a big letter

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