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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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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: wound · jam · field · row · perch · wind · prune · bark

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. wound — an injury
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. wind — moving air
  8. row — a line
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. field — for sport
  11. row — to paddle
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. field — farmland
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wind — moving air
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. perch — the fish
  19. bark — to shout
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. field — a subject
  24. wound — an injury

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