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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: prune · bound · cue · bark · pit · tear · fall · land

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bark — to shout
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pit — in a race
  7. fall — to drop
  8. land — ground
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. fall — the season
  12. bound — tied together
  13. cue — a signal
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bound — obliged
  16. tear — to rip
  17. land — to come down
  18. cue — for pool
  19. fall — to drop
  20. pit — a hole
  21. land — a country
  22. bound — certain
  23. cue — a hint
  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