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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. cap — a lid
  3. firm — decided
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cap — of ice
  6. firm — steady
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. land — a country
  10. cap — a hat
  11. land — ground
  12. bark — to shout
  13. clip — to cut
  14. hand — help
  15. firm — a company
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. pound — a weight
  19. clip — a video
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. snap — to click
  22. land — to come down
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. pound — to hit hard

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