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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. craft — a skill
  3. bat — the animal
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. land — to come down
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. craft — boats
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. season — of the year
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. land — ground
  21. season — in sport
  22. wound — an injury
  23. land — a country
  24. wound — an injury

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