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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. foot — a measure
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. bark — to shout
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bass — the fish
  13. clip — a video
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chip — to eat
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — wild animals
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. chip — for betting
  20. ground — a position
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. bass — low music
  24. game — a match

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