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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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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: kid · current · bark · cold · prune · last · tube · lean

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. tube — the underground
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. lean — thin
  7. tube — a container
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. kid — to tease
  11. lean — to bend
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. cold — not warm
  14. current — electric
  15. last — finally
  16. current — happening now
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. last — final
  20. last — to go on
  21. kid — child
  22. prune — to trim
  23. current — of water
  24. bark — to shout

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