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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 116 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: prune · kid · march · fork · root · row · game · bark

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. march — the month
  6. root — of a word
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. root — of a plant
  13. row — a line
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. game — a match
  16. kid — child
  17. bark — to shout
  18. prune — to trim
  19. fork — in a road
  20. kid — to tease
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. root — the cause
  24. row — a quarrel

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