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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. mate — a partner
  3. present — the time now
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mate — a friend
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bark — to shout
  8. prune — to trim
  9. present — there
  10. band — a music group
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. sharp — clever
  15. pound — a weight
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. row — to paddle
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. present — a gift
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. band — a ring

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