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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. net — after costs
  3. chair — a leader
  4. mark — a trace
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. bark — to shout
  9. mark — a grade
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. clip — a video
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. staff — a stick
  16. rash — a series
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. staff — employees
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. staff — employees
  21. rash — hasty
  22. net — for catching
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. net — in sport

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