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

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. race — a contest
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. craft — a skill
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. clip — for paper
  9. mark — a grade
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. craft — boats
  13. mark — a trace
  14. roll — a list
  15. bark — to shout
  16. shower — rain
  17. roll — a cake
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. shower — to wash
  22. race — the arms race
  23. clip — a video
  24. race — humankind

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