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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. sharp — clever
  5. mug — to rob
  6. hand — help
  7. mug — a face
  8. march — the month
  9. bark — to shout
  10. march — music
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. clip — a video
  13. season — in sport
  14. march — the month
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. hand — in cards
  17. season — of the year
  18. mug — a cup
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. pound — a weight
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. clip — to cut
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bark — of a tree

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