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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. season — in sport
  4. season — of the year
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. file — a line of people
  10. prune — to trim
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. bark — to shout
  14. file — a tool
  15. current — electric
  16. lie — to recline
  17. current — of water
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. file — a document
  24. current — happening now

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