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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. pop — soda
  5. tube — the underground
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. pop — to visit
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. mate — a friend
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. tube — a container
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. pound — a weight
  17. mate — to breed
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bark — to shout
  21. pop — music
  22. wake — a trail
  23. clip — a video
  24. mate — a partner

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