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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. fall — to drop
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. clip — a video
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. root — of a word
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. fall — the season
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. clip — for paper
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. bark — to shout
  13. clip — to cut
  14. row — to paddle
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. fall — to drop
  17. can — to be able to
  18. root — the cause
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. can — a tin
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. root — of a plant
  24. row — a line

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