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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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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: fall · chair · bark · toast · prune · arm · mine · clip

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. fall — the season
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — to shout
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. clip — to cut
  9. chair — a leader
  10. prune — to trim
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. clip — for paper
  15. fall — to drop
  16. prune — to trim
  17. fall — to drop
  18. toast — bread
  19. clip — a video
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. mine — for digging

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