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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. season — of the year
  5. season — in sport
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bark — to shout
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. ground — the earth
  13. rash — hasty
  14. ground — crushed
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. clip — for paper
  17. kick — in football
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. rash — a series
  21. clip — a video
  22. ground — a position
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. kick — a thrill

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