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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. bark — to shout
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. clip — to cut
  8. file — a document
  9. pound — a weight
  10. clip — a video
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. file — a tool
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. clip — for paper
  18. sharp — clever
  19. file — a line of people
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. hide — animal skin

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