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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: prune · pit · nail · current · bulb · kid · cold · bark

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. bulb — for light
  5. current — electric
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. pit — in a race
  8. prune — to trim
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. current — of water
  12. current — happening now
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. cold — an illness
  15. kid — child
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bulb — for light
  20. pit — a hole
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. kid — to tease
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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