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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. scale — in music
  3. stem — to come from
  4. clip — to cut
  5. pit — in a race
  6. ground — crushed
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. scale — size or range
  10. march — the month
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. pit — a hole
  13. march — the month
  14. ground — the earth
  15. clip — a video
  16. ground — a position
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. game — wild animals
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. game — a match
  23. march — music
  24. bark — to shout

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