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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bound — obliged
  8. drill — a practice
  9. spring — a coil
  10. drill — army training
  11. bark — to shout
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. spring — of water
  14. stock — shares
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. spring — the season
  17. wound — an injury
  18. drill — the tool
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. wound — an injury
  21. stock — goods
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. stock — a soup base

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