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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. face — to point toward
  5. mark — a grade
  6. bark — to shout
  7. face — part of the head
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. land — ground
  10. clip — to cut
  11. face — to confront
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bass — the fish
  14. land — a country
  15. land — to come down
  16. clip — a video
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. row — a line
  21. bass — low music
  22. clip — for paper
  23. row — to paddle
  24. mark — a trace

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