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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 120 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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. stock — goods
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. clip — a video
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. spell — a short time
  9. craft — boats
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spell — letters
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. craft — a skill
  15. stock — shares
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. spell — magic
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. cold — not warm
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bark — to shout
  24. clip — for paper

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