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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: wake · pound · lash · ground · foot · rule · clip · bark

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. rule — a law
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. foot — a measure
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. wake — a trail
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. pound — a weight
  10. bark — to shout
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. ground — crushed
  18. ground — the earth
  19. clip — a video
  20. ground — a position
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. rule — government
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — to cut

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