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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 116 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: lash · bark · band · stick · cold · current · clip · present

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. present — there
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. bark — to shout
  11. cold — an illness
  12. present — the time now
  13. band — a ring
  14. cold — not warm
  15. current — electric
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. band — a music group
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. present — a gift
  23. current — happening now
  24. current — of water

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