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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. pop — music
  3. band — a music group
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. pop — to visit
  12. sharp — clever
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bark — to shout
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. ground — the earth
  17. pop — soda
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — crushed
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. rush — hurry

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