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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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 — to shout
  3. clip — a video
  4. bass — the fish
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. cap — a lid
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. clip — to cut
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. content — happy
  13. rash — hasty
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bass — low music
  16. rash — a series
  17. clip — for paper
  18. cap — of ice
  19. content — the amount
  20. cap — a hat
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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