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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. field — a subject
  4. shower — to wash
  5. net — after costs
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. press — to push
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. net — for catching
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. net — in sport
  16. press — newspapers
  17. bark — to shout
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. field — farmland
  21. prune — to trim
  22. shower — rain
  23. field — for sport
  24. press — a publisher

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