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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. land — a country
  6. lie — to recline
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. race — humankind
  9. mark — a grade
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. race — the arms race
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. mark — a trace
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. land — ground
  23. race — a contest
  24. wake — a trail

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