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

Word bank: wound · deal · race · cell · present · clip · pitcher · bark

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. clip — a video
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. cell — in biology
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. race — the arms race
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. present — the time now
  13. deal — to handle
  14. race — a contest
  15. race — humankind
  16. present — a gift
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — to shout
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. present — there
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cell — a phone

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