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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. kid — child
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. clip — a video
  6. tube — a container
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. tube — the underground
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. clip — to cut
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. perch — the fish
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — to shout
  22. foot — a measure
  23. clip — for paper
  24. kid — to tease

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