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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. snap — to click
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. swing — in golf
  8. swing — to play on
  9. clip — a video
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. clip — for paper
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bark — to shout
  15. date — the fruit
  16. pound — a weight
  17. clip — to cut
  18. fork — in a road
  19. swing — music
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. pound — to hit hard

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