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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. row — a line
  4. clip — for paper
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. capital — a city
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. bark — to shout
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. clip — to cut
  12. branch — a division
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. clip — a video
  15. capital — money
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. row — to paddle
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. snap — to click
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. plane — a tool
  24. straw — dry grass

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