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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. last — finally
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. rule — a law
  6. prune — to trim
  7. last — final
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. rule — government
  13. kick — in football
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. last — to go on
  16. spring — a coil
  17. row — a line
  18. spring — the season
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. spring — of water
  22. row — to paddle
  23. prune — to trim
  24. bark — to shout

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