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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bat — the animal
  4. spell — a short time
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. mate — to breed
  8. clip — to cut
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. spring — the season
  11. spell — letters
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. spell — magic
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. mate — a friend
  22. mate — a partner
  23. spring — of water
  24. tear — from crying

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