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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. saw — the tool
  3. land — to come down
  4. drill — a practice
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. pop — soda
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. prune — to trim
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. land — ground
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. land — a country
  15. bark — to shout
  16. pop — music
  17. drill — army training
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. scale — in music
  20. prune — to trim
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. scale — size or range
  24. drill — the tool

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