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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: wind · clip · snap · rash · bark · lie · squash · mate

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. squash — the sport
  4. clip — for paper
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. mate — a partner
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rash — a series
  11. lie — to recline
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mate — a friend
  15. bark — to shout
  16. mate — to breed
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. snap — to click
  24. rash — hasty

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