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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. spring — of water
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. prune — to trim
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. prune — to trim
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. spring — a coil
  11. stem — to come from
  12. object — a thing
  13. spring — the season
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. object — an aim
  16. bark — to shout
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wind — moving air
  20. ground — crushed
  21. ground — a position
  22. object — to protest
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. ground — the earth

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