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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — all right
  3. roll — a cake
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bark — to shout
  8. band — a music group
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. band — a ring
  11. sharp — clever
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bear — the animal
  15. race — the arms race
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. race — humankind
  19. race — a contest
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. roll — a list
  24. bear — to put up with

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