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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 120 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical 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. prune — to trim
  2. row — a line
  3. prune — to trim
  4. band — a ring
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. row — to paddle
  9. sharp — clever
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. snap — to click
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. rock — a stone
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bark — to shout
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. band — a music group
  23. rock — 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