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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  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. hand — help
  3. clip — to cut
  4. fine — high quality
  5. current — happening now
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — of water
  8. clip — a video
  9. tear — to rip
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. fine — all right
  13. tear — from crying
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. hand — in cards
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. current — of water
  21. current — electric
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. clip — for paper
  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