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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 116 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 chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. lean — to bend
  3. spell — letters
  4. content — happy
  5. drill — a practice
  6. spell — a short time
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. lean — thin
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. drill — army training
  16. drill — the tool
  17. content — the amount
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. branch — a division
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. bark — to shout
  23. spell — magic
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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