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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  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. craft — boats
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. clip — for paper
  4. stock — goods
  5. court — for sport
  6. object — an aim
  7. rule — a law
  8. bark — to shout
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. court — of law
  11. craft — a skill
  12. object — to protest
  13. clip — to cut
  14. court — of a king
  15. rule — government
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. stock — shares
  23. object — a thing
  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