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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: pitcher · bear · bark · clip · present · wind · pop · temple

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — a video
  3. bear — the animal
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. present — a gift
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. bark — to shout
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. present — there
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pop — soda
  21. pop — music
  22. present — the time now
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. pop — to visit

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