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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. net — in sport
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — to be able to
  5. prune — to trim
  6. row — to paddle
  7. bark — to shout
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. face — to point toward
  10. game — wild animals
  11. face — to confront
  12. net — for catching
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. row — a line
  15. field — a subject
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. field — for sport
  18. prune — to trim
  19. face — part of the head
  20. field — farmland
  21. can — a tin
  22. game — a match
  23. net — after costs
  24. game — a kind of play

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