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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 · saw · squash · snap · bark · coach · wake · season

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. season — of the year
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. clip — a video
  7. squash — to crush
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. snap — to click
  10. saw — the tool
  11. wake — a trail
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. saw — the tool
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. season — in sport
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bark — to shout
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. squash — the sport
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. clip — to cut

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