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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.

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: swing · degree · stick · wound · lean · prune · bark · sharp

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. lean — thin
  5. bark — to shout
  6. sharp — clever
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. prune — to trim
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. degree — from a university
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. degree — an amount
  16. swing — in golf
  17. lean — to bend
  18. swing — to play on
  19. degree — temperature
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. swing — music
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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