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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: bat · saw · track · bark · cell · rash · clip · season

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. clip — for paper
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bat — the animal
  8. clip — to cut
  9. season — in sport
  10. track — a song
  11. clip — a video
  12. track — to keep track
  13. rash — a series
  14. track — a path
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — a phone
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. season — of the year
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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