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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: stand · bark · rash · spring · prune · clip · face · sharp

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. bark — to shout
  3. rash — a series
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. sharp — clever
  6. rash — hasty
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. face — part of the head
  9. clip — for paper
  10. face — to confront
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — of water
  15. prune — to trim
  16. clip — to cut
  17. prune — to trim
  18. face — to point toward
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. stand — to bear
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. clip — a video
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. spring — the season

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