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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: fork · straw · tear · clip · plane · pound · cell · wake

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. wake — a trail
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. clip — to cut
  6. plane — a tool
  7. clip — for paper
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. clip — a video
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tear — from crying
  13. pound — a weight
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. tear — from crying
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. fork — in a road
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. fork — to eat with

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