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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: suit · clip · mate · file · cell · wake · bark · bass

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. cell — in biology
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. mate — a partner
  5. bass — the fish
  6. mate — a friend
  7. suit — clothes
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. mate — to breed
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. suit — in cards
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. wake — a trail
  14. clip — a video
  15. cell — a phone
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. suit — to fit
  18. file — a tool
  19. clip — to cut
  20. file — a document
  21. bass — low music
  22. bark — to shout
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. file — a line of people

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