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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. roll — a cake
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. clip — a video
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. last — to go on
  12. roll — a list
  13. last — final
  14. clip — for paper
  15. game — a match
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. last — finally
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. clip — to cut
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. stem — to come from
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. game — wild animals

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