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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. clip — to cut
  5. charge — in control
  6. charge — a price
  7. spell — magic
  8. bark — to shout
  9. clip — for paper
  10. charge — electricity
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — for sport
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. vault — a safe
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. field — farmland
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. clip — a video
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. spell — a short time
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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