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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. spring — the season
  3. game — wild animals
  4. spring — of water
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. spring — a coil
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. track — a path
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. mate — to breed
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. face — to confront
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — a video
  15. mate — a partner
  16. face — to point toward
  17. track — to keep track
  18. face — part of the head
  19. game — a match
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. mate — a friend
  22. bark — to shout
  23. track — a song
  24. clip — for paper

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