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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. bark — to shout
  3. clip — to cut
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bound — certain
  6. clip — a video
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. ball — a great time
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — obliged
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. object — a thing
  14. face — part of the head
  15. face — to point toward
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. row — a line
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. object — an aim
  20. object — to protest
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. face — to confront
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. row — to paddle

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