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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: spell · clip · face · pitcher · cell · rest · kick · bark

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. spell — magic
  3. rest — a break
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. clip — for paper
  6. spell — a short time
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. rest — what's left
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. kick — in football
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. face — to point toward
  13. face — part of the head
  14. spell — letters
  15. clip — to cut
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cell — in biology
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. face — to confront
  20. clip — a video
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. cell — a phone
  23. rest — what's left
  24. kick — with a leg

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