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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: bark · straw · dip · saw · object · clip · chest · toast

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. object — to protest
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. bark — to shout
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. object — a thing
  8. object — an aim
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. chest — of your body
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. chest — of your body
  15. clip — a video
  16. toast — bread
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — to cut
  19. chest — a box
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. saw — the tool
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. straw — dry grass

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