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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. drill — the tool
  3. shower — rain
  4. prune — to trim
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. land — ground
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. branch — a division
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. board — to get on
  13. board — a committee
  14. drill — a practice
  15. land — a country
  16. land — to come down
  17. bark — to shout
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. wind — moving air
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. wind — moving air
  23. drill — army training
  24. shower — to wash

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