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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: can · row · sharp · bark · clip · cold

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. row — a line
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. cold — not warm
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. can — a tin
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. row — to paddle
  13. sharp — clever
  14. clip — a video
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bark — to shout
  17. can — to be able to
  18. bark — a dog's sound

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