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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. clip — for paper
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. wake — a trail
  9. clip — a video
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. present — the time now
  14. bore — to drill
  15. snap — to click
  16. bark — to shout
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. field — farmland
  19. present — there
  20. bore — to tire
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. present — a gift
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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