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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. rock — a stone
  5. bark — to shout
  6. field — a subject
  7. toast — bread
  8. rock — music
  9. clip — for paper
  10. field — farmland
  11. march — the month
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. pass — a permit
  14. clip — to cut
  15. march — music
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. clip — a video
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. field — for sport
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. march — the month
  24. toast — the most admired

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