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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: cabinet · clip · cap · bark · court · roll · hide · spell

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. spell — letters
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. clip — for paper
  6. cap — a hat
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. cap — of ice
  10. court — of law
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. roll — a cake
  13. court — for sport
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. clip — to cut
  17. roll — a list
  18. spell — a short time
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. court — of a king
  21. spell — magic
  22. bark — to shout
  23. clip — a video
  24. hide — animal skin

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