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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. cell — a phone
  4. clip — to cut
  5. rash — a series
  6. foot — a measure
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cell — in biology
  10. band — a ring
  11. object — a thing
  12. bark — to shout
  13. clip — a video
  14. game — a match
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. game — wild animals
  20. object — an aim
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. object — to protest
  23. rash — hasty
  24. band — a music group

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