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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. cold — not warm
  5. club — for golf
  6. club — for dancing
  7. clip — a video
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. clip — to cut
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wax — to grow
  17. bank — for money
  18. club — a group
  19. bank — for money
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. clip — for paper
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. bank — of a river

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