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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: clip · jam · row · bark · object · rush · patient · sharp

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — to shout
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. row — to paddle
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. row — a line
  8. object — to protest
  9. clip — a video
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. object — a thing
  12. sharp — clever
  13. rush — hurry
  14. object — an aim
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. clip — to cut
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bark — of a tree

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