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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bulb — for light
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bark — to shout
  8. spring — a coil
  9. clip — to cut
  10. spring — the season
  11. clip — a video
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bulb — for light
  14. hand — help
  15. fall — to drop
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. fall — the season
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. spring — of water
  20. mug — a face
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. fall — to drop
  24. mug — a cup

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