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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. prune — to trim
  3. staff — employees
  4. net — in sport
  5. tear — from crying
  6. prune — to trim
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — happy
  9. net — for catching
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bark — to shout
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bound — certain
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. bound — obliged
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. staff — a stick
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bound — tied together
  23. net — after costs
  24. saw — the tool

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