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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 not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. clip — a video
  3. deal — to handle
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. clip — for paper
  9. stem — to come from
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — rain
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. wound — an injury
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. bark — to shout
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. stem — of a plant

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