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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. can — a tin
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. clip — to cut
  6. spring — a coil
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. spring — of water
  9. bark — to shout
  10. spring — the season
  11. clip — for paper
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — after costs
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. mark — a grade
  18. net — for catching
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. mark — a trace
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. clip — a video
  24. can — to be able to

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