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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. row — a line
  4. bark — to shout
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. cell — in biology
  7. spell — a short time
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. spell — magic
  10. chair — a leader
  11. spell — letters
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. row — to paddle
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. cell — a phone
  21. clip — for paper
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. clip — a video
  24. chair — to sit on

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