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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cap — a hat
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. bark — to shout
  8. drill — a practice
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. plane — a tool
  15. drill — army training
  16. cap — of ice
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. hand — help
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. cap — a lid
  21. drill — the tool
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. fork — in a road
  24. trunk — of a tree

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