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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. clip — for paper
  4. court — of a king
  5. cue — a hint
  6. clip — to cut
  7. court — of law
  8. rash — a series
  9. staff — employees
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. staff — a stick
  13. cue — for pool
  14. cue — a signal
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. clip — a video
  18. bark — to shout
  19. court — for sport
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. content — the amount
  22. stem — to come from
  23. content — happy
  24. rash — hasty

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