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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. tear — to rip
  4. pound — a weight
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. press — to push
  7. tear — from crying
  8. row — to paddle
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. branch — a division
  12. bear — the animal
  13. press — newspapers
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — farmland
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. press — a publisher
  19. bear — the animal
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. tear — from crying
  24. row — a line

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