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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 116 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: bark · kick · bay · straw · clip · pass · bat · scale

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. clip — a video
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bark — to shout
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. clip — for paper
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. scale — size or range
  19. pass — a permit
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. scale — in music
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. kick — in football

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