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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. clip — a video
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wake — a trail
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. face — part of the head
  12. track — a song
  13. clip — for paper
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. face — to confront
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. bark — to shout
  19. saw — the tool
  20. track — to keep track
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. face — to point toward
  24. track — a path

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