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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. bark — to shout
  5. net — in sport
  6. kick — in football
  7. net — for catching
  8. present — a gift
  9. field — a subject
  10. present — the time now
  11. field — farmland
  12. object — a thing
  13. present — there
  14. clip — for paper
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. field — for sport
  19. net — after costs
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. object — to protest
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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