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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 116 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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bark — to shout
  3. clip — to cut
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bound — tied together
  6. tear — from crying
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — a subject
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rock — music
  11. clip — a video
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. field — for sport
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bound — certain
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. rock — a stone
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. bound — obliged
  24. hide — to keep secret

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