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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. wind — moving air
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. wind — moving air
  7. prune — to trim
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. cap — of ice
  11. cap — a lid
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. cap — a hat
  15. tube — the underground
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bark — to shout
  18. tube — a container
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — to cut
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. sharp — clever

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