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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. fine — all right
  3. row — to paddle
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. swing — in golf
  6. wind — moving air
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. clip — a video
  13. game — wild animals
  14. swing — music
  15. game — a match
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. fine — high quality
  18. row — a line
  19. wind — moving air
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. swing — to play on
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bark — to shout
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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