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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. field — a subject
  3. staff — employees
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. spring — a coil
  8. chip — to eat
  9. clip — for paper
  10. staff — employees
  11. mate — a partner
  12. clip — a video
  13. mate — a friend
  14. staff — a stick
  15. chip — for betting
  16. bark — to shout
  17. mate — to breed
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. clip — to cut
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. spring — of water
  23. field — for sport
  24. field — farmland

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