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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rule · clip · bark · snap · tear · straw

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. rule — government
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. clip — a video
  7. tear — from crying
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. snap — to click
  10. bark — to shout
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. tear — to rip
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. clip — to cut
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. tear — from crying
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. straw — a straw man

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