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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. rock — a stone
  3. present — the time now
  4. present — there
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. spring — a coil
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. present — a gift
  11. bark — to shout
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. toast — bread
  15. clip — for paper
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. clip — a video
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wake — a trail

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