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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. rest — a break
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. fine — high quality
  6. rest — what's left
  7. fine — all right
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. clip — a video
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. rest — what's left
  17. bark — to shout
  18. clip — for paper
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. clip — to cut
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. fine — a penalty

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