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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: bark · bound · field · object · prune · shower · bore · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. object — an aim
  3. bore — to drill
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bound — tied together
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. field — for sport
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bound — obliged
  15. field — a subject
  16. bark — to shout
  17. shower — rain
  18. object — a thing
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. shower — to wash
  21. object — to protest
  22. field — farmland
  23. bound — certain
  24. content — the amount

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