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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. season — of the year
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. capital — a city
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cell — in biology
  10. stem — to come from
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cell — a phone
  13. season — in sport
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wound — an injury
  17. capital — money
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. wind — moving air
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. prune — to trim
  24. stem — of a plant

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