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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. staff — a stick
  5. bore — to drill
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bore — to tire
  9. staff — employees
  10. staff — employees
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bark — to shout
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. clip — for paper
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. degree — an amount
  23. chair — a leader
  24. clip — a video

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