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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: bark · face · mark · row · clip · game · cell · pass

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. mark — a trace
  3. game — wild animals
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. face — part of the head
  8. game — a match
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. mark — a grade
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. face — to confront
  13. pass — a permit
  14. bark — to shout
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. clip — for paper
  17. row — a line
  18. cell — in biology
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. clip — a video

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