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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. clip — a video
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. land — ground
  7. bark — to shout
  8. roll — a list
  9. bat — the animal
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. land — a country
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. land — to come down
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. mark — a trace
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. mark — a grade
  24. roll — a cake

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