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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: drill · chair · squash · bark · cell · sharp · tear · prune

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. squash — the sport
  7. prune — to trim
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. sharp — clever
  10. bark — to shout
  11. tear — from crying
  12. prune — to trim
  13. drill — the tool
  14. squash — to crush
  15. cell — a phone
  16. drill — a practice
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. drill — army training
  22. chair — a leader
  23. tear — from crying
  24. sharp — exactly

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