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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: lean · staff · bore · hand · shower · track · bark · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. lean — to bend
  4. hand — in cards
  5. track — to keep track
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — to wash
  8. track — a song
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. hand — help
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bark — to shout
  17. track — a path
  18. bore — to drill
  19. staff — employees
  20. lean — thin
  21. staff — employees
  22. staff — a stick
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. shower — rain

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