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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. game — a match
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. bark — to shout
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a tool
  13. branch — a division
  14. prune — to trim
  15. court — of a king
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. wake — a trail
  18. court — for sport
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. court — of law
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. file — a document

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