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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 120 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bulb — for light
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. march — the month
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. row — a line
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. march — music
  11. bulb — for light
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — to cut
  14. ground — the earth
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. bark — to shout
  17. clip — a video
  18. row — to paddle
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — a position
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. temple — a place of worship

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