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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. tube — a container
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. fine — all right
  6. bark — to shout
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — for sport
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. clip — to cut
  12. tube — the underground
  13. court — of law
  14. clip — a video
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. fine — high quality
  24. date — the fruit

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