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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. court — of law
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. bark — to shout
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. scale — size or range
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. court — for sport
  16. spell — a short time
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. court — of a king
  23. spell — magic
  24. scale — in music

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