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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 116 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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. kid — to tease
  5. staff — employees
  6. bark — to shout
  7. staff — a stick
  8. clip — to cut
  9. kid — child
  10. mate — a friend
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. clip — a video
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bound — obliged
  15. staff — employees
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. present — there
  18. bound — certain
  19. bound — tied together
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — a gift
  22. wind — moving air
  23. clip — for paper
  24. mate — to breed

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