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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. clip — for paper
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — to shout
  9. cell — a phone
  10. hand — in cards
  11. season — in sport
  12. hand — help
  13. clip — a video
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. clip — to cut
  17. date — the fruit
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. mate — a friend
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. cell — in biology
  22. mate — a partner
  23. mate — to breed
  24. season — of the year

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