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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. track — a path
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. sharp — clever
  6. bark — to shout
  7. club — for dancing
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. last — to go on
  11. club — a group
  12. club — for golf
  13. last — final
  14. root — of a plant
  15. clip — for paper
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. track — a song
  18. track — to keep track
  19. root — of a word
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. root — the cause
  22. clip — a video
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. clip — to cut

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