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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: bay · hide · straw · bark · pound · row · clip · land

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. clip — to cut
  4. row — a line
  5. land — to come down
  6. pound — a weight
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. row — to paddle
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. clip — for paper
  13. land — ground
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. land — a country
  21. clip — a video
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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