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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. bark — to shout
  3. season — of the year
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. season — in sport
  8. game — a match
  9. field — a subject
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. prune — to trim
  16. game — wild animals
  17. tube — the underground
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. tube — a container
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. field — farmland
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. field — for sport

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