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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: firm · bark · clip · court · land · mate · vault · prune

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. land — to come down
  3. prune — to trim
  4. firm — steady
  5. court — of a king
  6. clip — to cut
  7. court — for sport
  8. clip — for paper
  9. court — of law
  10. mate — a friend
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. land — a country
  15. mate — a partner
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. vault — a safe
  18. clip — a video
  19. firm — decided
  20. mate — to breed
  21. land — ground
  22. firm — a company
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bark — of a tree

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