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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: straw · clip · cap · cold · sharp · bark · mark · bay

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. cold — not warm
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. mark — a grade
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. mark — a trace
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. cold — an illness
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. clip — a video
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cap — a hat
  21. sharp — clever
  22. bark — to shout
  23. cap — a lid
  24. clip — for paper

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