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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: bark · racket · spring · drill · wake · fork · straw · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. drill — the tool
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. clip — to cut
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. bark — to shout
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. drill — army training
  13. spring — a coil
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — of water
  19. clip — for paper
  20. drill — a practice
  21. wake — a trail
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. fork — a garden tool

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