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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 120 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: game · straw · current · ground · club · bark · spring · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. ground — the earth
  4. current — happening now
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. club — for dancing
  7. current — electric
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. spring — of water
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — wild animals
  14. ground — crushed
  15. club — for golf
  16. spring — the season
  17. game — a match
  18. club — a group
  19. ground — a position
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. current — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bark — to shout

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