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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. rash — a series
  5. ground — a position
  6. snap — to click
  7. clip — to cut
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. plane — a tool
  13. ground — crushed
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. clip — a video
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. ground — the earth
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. rash — hasty

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