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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. race — the arms race
  3. net — after costs
  4. net — in sport
  5. present — a gift
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. game — wild animals
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. net — for catching
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. race — a contest
  14. clip — for paper
  15. race — humankind
  16. present — there
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. present — the time now
  19. foot — a measure
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bark — to shout

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