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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. ball — a great time
  3. pop — music
  4. bark — to shout
  5. fork — in a road
  6. row — a line
  7. row — to paddle
  8. clip — a video
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. ball — a dance
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. pop — to visit
  16. clip — to cut
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wound — an injury
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. pop — soda
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. object — an aim
  23. object — a thing
  24. clip — for paper

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