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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. dip — to sink
  4. bark — to shout
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. tear — to rip
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. tear — from crying
  12. charge — electricity
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. craft — boats
  15. band — a ring
  16. content — the amount
  17. band — a music group
  18. charge — in control
  19. craft — a skill
  20. content — happy
  21. charge — a price
  22. clip — for paper
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. band — a rubber band

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