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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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Word bank
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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: ground · pop · nail · tear · chair · prune · bark · fall

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. pop — to visit
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. tear — to rip
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. pop — soda
  10. chair — a leader
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pop — music
  14. ground — crushed
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. fall — the season
  17. bark — to shout
  18. fall — to drop
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. prune — to trim
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. tear — from crying
  23. ground — the earth
  24. tear — from crying

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