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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. field — farmland
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. field — a subject
  6. bark — to shout
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. spell — letters
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. game — wild animals
  12. spell — magic
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — a video
  17. spell — a short time
  18. sharp — clever
  19. clip — to cut
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. field — for sport
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. bark — of a tree

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