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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 120 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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. wound — an injury
  3. sharp — clever
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bark — to shout
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. kick — in football
  11. bank — of a river
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. band — a music group
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. clip — a video
  17. bank — for money
  18. band — a ring
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bank — for money
  22. row — a line
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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