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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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Word bank
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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. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. bark — to shout
  3. tear — from crying
  4. prune — to trim
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. present — there
  8. tear — to rip
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. saw — the tool
  14. cold — not warm
  15. saw — the tool
  16. present — a gift
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. cold — an illness
  22. prune — to trim
  23. present — the time now
  24. tear — from crying

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