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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 120 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. bark — to shout
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. face — to confront
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. ball — a dance
  7. face — to point toward
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. spring — the season
  14. ball — a great time
  15. face — part of the head
  16. ground — a position
  17. spring — of water
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. ground — the earth

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