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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: march · ground · bark · pop · mark · lie · clip · fan

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. clip — to cut
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. clip — for paper
  6. ground — crushed
  7. march — the month
  8. pop — music
  9. pop — soda
  10. ground — the earth
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. mark — a grade
  14. pop — to visit
  15. mark — a trace
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. march — music
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. ground — a position
  21. march — the month
  22. clip — a video
  23. bark — to shout
  24. lie — to recline

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