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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. clip — to cut
  3. object — an aim
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. clip — for paper
  6. ball — a dance
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. clip — a video
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. object — to protest
  11. object — a thing
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wake — a trail
  15. craft — a skill
  16. race — humankind
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. cell — in biology
  19. race — a contest
  20. craft — boats
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. bark — to shout
  23. race — the arms race
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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