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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bass — the fish
  3. march — the month
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cell — in biology
  6. clip — a video
  7. march — the month
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bass — low music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. march — music
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cell — a phone
  20. shower — to wash
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. shower — rain
  24. safe — out of danger

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