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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: clip · snap · wave · court · tear · dip · bark · stand

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. tear — to rip
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. tear — from crying
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. dip — to sink
  12. bark — to shout
  13. clip — for paper
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — of law
  17. tear — from crying
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. court — for sport
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. stand — to bear

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