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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. clip — for paper
  4. last — to go on
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. bark — to shout
  11. last — final
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — farmland
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bound — tied together
  20. clip — a video
  21. bound — certain
  22. pass — a permit
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bound — obliged

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