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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 116 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. land — a country
  3. clip — to cut
  4. land — ground
  5. can — to be able to
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. land — to come down
  8. prune — to trim
  9. ground — a position
  10. cue — for pool
  11. tear — from crying
  12. can — a tin
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bark — to shout
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — the earth
  17. clip — a video
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cue — a hint
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. can — a tin
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. cue — a signal

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