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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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Word bank
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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: tear · bark · last · clip · ruler · field

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. field — for sport
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. clip — to cut
  7. last — final
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bark — to shout
  10. field — a subject
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. tear — from crying
  13. last — to go on
  14. field — farmland
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. last — finally
  17. clip — a video
  18. bark — of a tree

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