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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bark — to shout
  3. spell — a short time
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cold — not warm
  10. clip — for paper
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. branch — a division
  14. spell — magic
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. spell — letters
  22. wound — an injury
  23. clip — a video
  24. lie — to recline

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