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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. rush — hurry
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. tube — a container
  5. tube — the underground
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. scale — size or range
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. clip — for paper
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. clip — to cut
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — in music
  22. clip — a video
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. bat — the animal

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