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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. race — humankind
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. race — a contest
  7. fine — all right
  8. clip — to cut
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. clip — a video
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. saw — the tool
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. race — the arms race
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — to play on
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bark — to shout
  23. fine — high quality
  24. swing — music

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