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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. row — a line
  3. last — to go on
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. last — finally
  8. stem — to come from
  9. row — to paddle
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. clip — a video
  12. bark — to shout
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. last — final
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. clip — to cut
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. coach — a trainer

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