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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. clip — a video
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. clip — for paper
  5. tube — a container
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. branch — a division
  8. pit — a hole
  9. game — a match
  10. bear — the animal
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. tube — the underground
  13. row — a line
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bear — the animal
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. game — wild animals
  22. pit — in a race
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. clip — to cut

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