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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 116 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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. cap — of ice
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cap — a hat
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. cap — a lid
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. bark — to shout
  14. mark — a trace
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. mark — a grade
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. deal — to handle
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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