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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. fine — all right
  6. bark — to shout
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. fine — high quality
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. staff — a stick
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. clip — a video
  15. rush — hurry
  16. staff — employees
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. foot — a measure
  19. kick — in football
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. clip — to cut
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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