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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: content · clip · bulb · toast · suit · field · bark · race

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. field — a subject
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. field — for sport
  7. clip — to cut
  8. suit — in cards
  9. race — the arms race
  10. toast — bread
  11. race — a contest
  12. suit — to fit
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. field — farmland
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. bulb — for light
  17. suit — clothes
  18. bark — to shout
  19. content — happy
  20. content — the amount
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bulb — for light
  24. race — humankind

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