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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: sharp · wound · prune · pop · march · bark · cold · present

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. present — there
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pop — to visit
  7. bark — to shout
  8. pop — soda
  9. march — music
  10. present — a gift
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. wound — an injury
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. sharp — clever
  18. pop — music
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. present — the time now
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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