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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cap — a lid
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to click
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. net — after costs
  15. clip — a video
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — to shout
  18. net — in sport
  19. cap — a hat
  20. clip — for paper
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cap — of ice
  23. net — for catching
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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