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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. prune — to trim
  4. season — of the year
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. season — in sport
  8. spring — the season
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. bark — to shout
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. prune — to trim
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wake — a trail
  17. snap — to click
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. spring — of water
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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