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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. snap — to click
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. rash — a series
  5. track — to keep track
  6. track — a path
  7. clip — a video
  8. pass — a permit
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. clip — for paper
  11. ground — crushed
  12. bark — to shout
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — a position
  20. track — a song
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. rash — hasty
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. patient — a sick person

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