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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. firm — steady
  3. firm — decided
  4. firm — a company
  5. cue — a hint
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. clip — a video
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. shower — rain
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. ground — a position
  14. clip — to cut
  15. ground — the earth
  16. ground — crushed
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. cue — a signal
  19. bark — to shout
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — to wash
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. cue — for pool

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