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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 124 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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. rash — a series
  5. bound — certain
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. ground — a position
  8. clip — a video
  9. swing — to play on
  10. bark — to shout
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. ground — the earth
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. clip — for paper
  16. swing — in golf
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. bound — tied together
  20. pitch — completely
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. swing — music
  23. bound — obliged
  24. ground — crushed

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