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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. court — of a king
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. file — a document
  5. board — a committee
  6. file — a line of people
  7. court — for sport
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bark — to shout
  11. season — of the year
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. clip — a video
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. file — a tool
  16. board — to get on
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. clip — to cut
  22. court — of law
  23. season — in sport
  24. bark — of a tree

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