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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: key · chip · field · bark · snap · clip · bear · patient

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. chip — to eat
  4. field — farmland
  5. bark — to shout
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. key — for a lock
  8. clip — to cut
  9. key — in music
  10. field — for sport
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. clip — for paper
  14. chip — for betting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. clip — a video
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. snap — to click
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bear — the animal
  21. key — the most important part
  22. field — a subject
  23. bear — the animal
  24. patient — a sick person

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