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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: bat · row · last · pound · bark · prune · bear · roll

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. last — final
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. last — finally
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. prune — to trim
  10. roll — a cake
  11. row — a line
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. bear — the animal
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. pound — a weight
  20. row — to paddle
  21. bat — the animal
  22. roll — a list
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. last — to go on

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