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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: clip · tear · bear · mate · kick · bark

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. tear — from crying
  3. clip — for paper
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bear — the animal
  8. clip — to cut
  9. mate — to breed
  10. clip — a video
  11. tear — to rip
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — in football
  14. mate — a partner
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bear — the animal

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