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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 · wax · mug · fall · spell · bark · straw · pitcher

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mug — a cup
  3. wax — to grow
  4. fall — to drop
  5. clip — a video
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. mug — to rob
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spell — letters
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. mug — a face
  16. spell — magic
  17. fall — the season
  18. bark — to shout
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. clip — for paper
  24. fall — to drop

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