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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. pitch — completely
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. field — farmland
  5. stem — to come from
  6. field — for sport
  7. bore — to tire
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. field — a subject
  11. court — of a king
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. court — of law
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — for paper
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. bore — to drill
  23. court — for sport
  24. clip — a video

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