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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: straw · bark · mouse · perch · clip · chip · mark · kick

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. chip — for betting
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — the fish
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. mark — a trace
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. chip — to eat
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bark — to shout
  22. kick — in football
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. mark — a grade

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