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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: rule · content · prune · bark · field · firm · ground · row

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. content — happy
  3. field — for sport
  4. row — a line
  5. rule — government
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. ground — crushed
  8. firm — decided
  9. prune — to trim
  10. rule — a law
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. ground — a position
  13. row — to paddle
  14. content — the amount
  15. field — a subject
  16. firm — a company
  17. bark — to shout
  18. field — farmland
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. ground — the earth
  23. firm — steady
  24. row — a quarrel

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