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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. prune — to trim
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. prune — to trim
  5. wake — a trail
  6. swing — music
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. season — in sport
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. season — of the year
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. swing — to play on
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. swing — in golf
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. bark — to shout
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. capital — a city
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. capital — money
  24. stem — to come from

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