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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. clip — to cut
  3. content — happy
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. spring — of water
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. clip — a video
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. race — a contest
  10. spring — a coil
  11. race — humankind
  12. court — for sport
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. pass — a permit
  15. bark — to shout
  16. court — of law
  17. court — of a king
  18. content — the amount
  19. clip — for paper
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. spring — the season
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. sharp — clever
  24. race — the arms race

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