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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. bulb — for light
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. kick — in football
  11. branch — a division
  12. bark — to shout
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. race — a contest
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. squash — to crush
  19. race — humankind
  20. squash — the sport
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. race — the arms race
  23. cell — in biology
  24. clip — for paper

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