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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · fork · prune · last · pitcher · bark · tear · hide

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. bark — to shout
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. tear — from crying
  6. land — to come down
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. last — final
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. tear — from crying
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. last — to go on
  16. prune — to trim
  17. land — a country
  18. tear — to rip
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. prune — to trim
  22. fork — in a road
  23. last — finally
  24. hide — animal skin

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