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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. land — to come down
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. current — of water
  5. clip — a video
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. march — music
  11. bark — to shout
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. current — happening now
  15. clip — to cut
  16. current — electric
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — a break
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. land — a country
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. land — ground

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