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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: key · tear · bark · chair · calf · season · clip · press

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. key — the most important part
  3. key — for a lock
  4. tear — to rip
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. tear — from crying
  7. press — a publisher
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. season — of the year
  11. bark — to shout
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. press — to push
  15. press — newspapers
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. chair — a leader
  19. season — in sport
  20. tear — from crying
  21. clip — a video
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. key — in music
  24. calf — a young animal

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