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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 would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. game — wild animals
  4. prune — to trim
  5. row — a line
  6. row — to paddle
  7. pop — soda
  8. pop — to visit
  9. tear — from crying
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. prune — to trim
  12. toast — bread
  13. bound — certain
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bark — to shout
  19. game — a match
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. tear — to rip
  23. pop — music
  24. row — a quarrel

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