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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. firm — decided
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bark — to shout
  7. spring — a coil
  8. swing — in golf
  9. kid — child
  10. swing — to play on
  11. firm — a company
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. firm — steady
  15. game — wild animals
  16. prune — to trim
  17. swing — music
  18. game — a match
  19. spring — the season
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. spring — of water
  22. wake — a trail
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. wake — before a funeral

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