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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. prune — to trim
  3. kid — to tease
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. ball — a dance
  6. shower — rain
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. rule — a law
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. deal — to handle
  20. rule — government
  21. kid — child
  22. branch — a division
  23. ball — a great time
  24. deal — a big deal

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