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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. bark — to shout
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. prune — to trim
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. net — in sport
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. prune — to trim
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. net — after costs
  15. game — wild animals
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. kick — in football
  20. net — for catching
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. saw — the tool
  24. stem — to come from

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