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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 120 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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bound — certain
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. clip — to cut
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. clip — a video
  7. game — wild animals
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bound — tied together
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pitch — completely
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. kid — child
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. board — to get on
  22. board — a committee
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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