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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. prune — to trim
  3. band — a music group
  4. band — a ring
  5. suit — in cards
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. perch — the fish
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. suit — to fit
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. hand — help
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. suit — clothes
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. prune — to trim
  22. hand — in cards
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. cold — the Cold War

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