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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. chest — of your body
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. chest — of your body
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. chest — a box
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. bear — the animal
  18. clip — a video
  19. bass — the fish
  20. scale — in music
  21. bass — low music
  22. clip — to cut
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. scale — size or range

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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