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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. wound — an injury
  3. drill — the tool
  4. row — to paddle
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. spring — the season
  9. drill — army training
  10. spring — a coil
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. row — a line
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. branch — a division
  17. spring — of water
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bear — the animal
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. trunk — of a car

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