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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 120 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. clip — a video
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. perch — the fish
  5. scale — size or range
  6. clip — for paper
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for golf
  9. stock — shares
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. club — for dancing
  14. rash — hasty
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — to shout
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. scale — in music
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. clip — to cut
  21. stock — goods
  22. game — a match
  23. rash — a series
  24. game — wild animals

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