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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. present — there
  4. field — a subject
  5. present — the time now
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. field — farmland
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. clip — a video
  10. field — for sport
  11. court — of law
  12. court — of a king
  13. clip — for paper
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. deal — to handle
  16. mate — a friend
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. sharp — clever
  19. clip — to cut
  20. court — for sport
  21. present — a gift
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. bark — to shout
  24. mate — to breed

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