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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: stick · bark · swing · spring · temple · clip · pit · sharp

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. sharp — clever
  9. spring — the season
  10. bark — to shout
  11. pit — a hole
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. swing — in golf
  14. swing — music
  15. swing — to play on
  16. pit — in a race
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. spring — a coil
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. spring — of water

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