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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 · bound · lie · roll · clip · ball · pitch · race

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. ball — a great time
  7. bark — to shout
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. lie — to recline
  10. roll — a cake
  11. clip — for paper
  12. race — a contest
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. pitch — completely
  15. clip — to cut
  16. ball — a dance
  17. bound — obliged
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. bound — tied together
  20. clip — a video
  21. roll — a list
  22. race — humankind
  23. bound — certain
  24. race — the arms race

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