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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to click
  6. clip — to cut
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. clip — a video
  12. field — for sport
  13. band — a ring
  14. lean — thin
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rock — music
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. lean — to bend
  19. band — a music group
  20. field — farmland
  21. wake — a trail
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. rock — a stone
  24. field — a subject

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