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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 120 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. mark — a grade
  3. field — a subject
  4. clip — for paper
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. clip — a video
  7. cell — in biology
  8. mark — a trace
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. field — for sport
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. bark — to shout
  19. cell — a phone
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. field — farmland

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