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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: prune · pound · rash · last · bark · race · chair · spring

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. spring — the season
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. rash — a series
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. bark — to shout
  10. prune — to trim
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. last — to go on
  13. race — a contest
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. chair — a leader
  16. last — finally
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pound — a weight
  19. last — final
  20. spring — a coil
  21. rash — hasty
  22. race — humankind
  23. prune — to trim
  24. spring — of water

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