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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 124 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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. stock — shares
  8. file — a document
  9. tube — the underground
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. file — a line of people
  13. clip — for paper
  14. tube — a container
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. bark — to shout
  17. stock — goods
  18. race — humankind
  19. race — a contest
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. race — the arms race
  24. file — a tool

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