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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: cap · bore · straw · bark · squash · prune · game · chair

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bore — to tire
  3. chair — a leader
  4. squash — the sport
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. game — wild animals
  8. prune — to trim
  9. squash — to crush
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. cap — a lid
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bore — to drill
  22. game — a match
  23. cap — of ice
  24. cap — a hat

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