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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. clip — to cut
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. board — to get on
  9. degree — from a university
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wound — an injury
  13. degree — temperature
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. degree — an amount
  16. deal — to handle
  17. bark — to shout
  18. board — a committee
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. clip — a video
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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