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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. lean — to bend
  5. bark — to shout
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. court — of a king
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. court — for sport
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. clip — for paper
  15. court — of law
  16. clip — a video
  17. object — to protest
  18. sharp — clever
  19. clip — to cut
  20. lean — thin
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. snap — to click
  23. object — an aim
  24. fan — to cool the air

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