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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: race · cold · calf · prune · club · chip · bulb · bark

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bark — to shout
  3. club — for golf
  4. cold — not warm
  5. club — a group
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bulb — for light
  10. race — humankind
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. race — a contest
  13. bulb — for light
  14. chip — for betting
  15. club — for dancing
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. prune — to trim
  19. chip — to eat
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. race — the arms race

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