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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: prune · court · lash · pop · degree · bark · cell · leaves

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. bark — to shout
  3. court — of a king
  4. prune — to trim
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. court — for sport
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. court — of law
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. degree — from a university
  14. pop — soda
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. cell — in biology
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. cell — a phone
  23. pop — music
  24. degree — an amount

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