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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — for paper
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. clip — a video
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. cold — not warm
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. bark — to shout
  19. cold — an illness
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. stick — to attach or keep 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