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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: leaves · march · mine · bark · ball · game · clip · coach

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. clip — to cut
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. march — the month
  10. game — wild animals
  11. march — music
  12. clip — for paper
  13. march — the month
  14. bark — to shout
  15. clip — a video
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. mine — for digging
  18. game — a match
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. ball — a dance
  24. ball — a round shape

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