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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. spell — magic
  3. ball — a great time
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. capital — money
  6. bark — to shout
  7. spell — letters
  8. spell — a short time
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. clip — for paper
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. clip — a video
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. scale — in music
  18. capital — a city
  19. scale — size or range
  20. ball — a dance
  21. pound — a weight
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. pound — for dogs

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