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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spring — the season
  3. scale — in music
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. bark — to shout
  8. scale — size or range
  9. spring — of water
  10. press — newspapers
  11. press — to push
  12. ground — the earth
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. spring — a coil
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. press — a publisher
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. ground — a position
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  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