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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. tube — the underground
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — to shout
  6. swing — in golf
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pound — a weight
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. swing — music
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mine — for digging
  20. fork — in a road
  21. tube — a container
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. prune — to trim
  24. swing — to play on

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