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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. stock — goods
  4. clip — a video
  5. hand — in cards
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stock — shares
  15. band — a ring
  16. pass — a permit
  17. saw — the tool
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bark — to shout
  20. band — a music group
  21. clip — for paper
  22. hand — help
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. mouse — the animal

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