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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 120 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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. season — of the year
  6. rock — music
  7. land — ground
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. wax — to grow
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. rock — a stone
  12. clip — a video
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. land — to come down
  16. clip — to cut
  17. land — a country
  18. season — in sport
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. bark — to shout
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wax — in the ear

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