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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. firm — steady
  6. last — to go on
  7. pitch — completely
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bark — to shout
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. prune — to trim
  12. last — final
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mug — to rob
  17. cold — an illness
  18. firm — a company
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. last — finally
  21. mug — a cup
  22. mug — a face
  23. stem — a stem cell
  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