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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: chair · prune · bark · shower · lie · kid · pound · root

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. kid — child
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. prune — to trim
  12. root — of a word
  13. lie — to recline
  14. root — of a plant
  15. shower — rain
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. prune — to trim
  19. shower — to wash
  20. pound — a weight
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. chair — a leader
  23. root — the cause
  24. pound — to hit hard

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