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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. cell — a phone
  3. craft — a skill
  4. bound — tied together
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. clip — for paper
  7. hand — help
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. clip — to cut
  10. craft — boats
  11. clip — a video
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. bound — certain
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bark — to shout
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bound — obliged
  20. lean — to bend
  21. cell — in biology
  22. lean — thin
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. lean — to rest against

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