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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 116 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: last · sharp · bark · lean · row · pop · clip · ball

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. pop — soda
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — to paddle
  5. clip — to cut
  6. lean — thin
  7. bark — to shout
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. ball — a dance
  10. sharp — clever
  11. last — final
  12. clip — for paper
  13. ball — a great time
  14. row — a line
  15. clip — a video
  16. last — to go on
  17. pop — music
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. lean — to bend
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. last — finally

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