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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. field — a subject
  4. spring — the season
  5. pass — a permit
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bear — the animal
  9. clip — a video
  10. field — farmland
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. spring — of water
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. club — a group
  18. clip — for paper
  19. club — for dancing
  20. spring — a coil
  21. club — for golf
  22. clip — to cut
  23. perch — the fish
  24. field — for 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