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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. last — finally
  3. date — the fruit
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. last — to go on
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bark — to shout
  12. present — a gift
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. clip — to cut
  15. present — there
  16. clip — a video
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. deal — to handle
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. clip — for paper
  22. present — the time now
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. last — final

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