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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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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: wake · pit · cap · lash · clip · degree · bark · wound

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. clip — a video
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. degree — an amount
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. degree — from a university
  9. pit — in a race
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. cap — a hat
  14. clip — for paper
  15. cap — of ice
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. cap — a lid
  18. clip — to cut
  19. degree — temperature
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. pit — a hole
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wound — an injury

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