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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: bark · clip · spring · ground · rule · press · wake · plane

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. rule — a law
  3. wake — a trail
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. plane — a tool
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. spring — of water
  8. press — a publisher
  9. press — newspapers
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. spring — a coil
  17. ground — the earth
  18. clip — a video
  19. spring — the season
  20. ground — crushed
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. press — to push
  23. clip — for paper
  24. ground — a position

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