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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. spring — the season
  4. rest — a break
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. prune — to trim
  8. spring — of water
  9. prune — to trim
  10. row — a line
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. row — to paddle
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bark — to shout
  15. rest — what's left
  16. file — a document
  17. can — a tin
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. can — a tin
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. file — a tool
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. spring — a coil
  24. rest — what's left

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