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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 120 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: arm · kick · stick · clip · mate · bore · bark · file

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. kick — in football
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — a partner
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. clip — a video
  11. bark — to shout
  12. clip — to cut
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a tool
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bore — to tire
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. mate — to breed
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bore — to drill
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. clip — for paper

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