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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. prune — to trim
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. race — a contest
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. board — to get on
  7. game — a match
  8. net — after costs
  9. plane — a tool
  10. board — a committee
  11. net — in sport
  12. race — humankind
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. race — the arms race
  15. net — for catching
  16. tear — from crying
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. bark — to shout
  19. tear — from crying
  20. prune — to trim
  21. game — wild animals
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. tear — to rip

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