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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: pitcher · dip · pound · clip · tear · toast · race · bark

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. dip — to sink
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. tear — to rip
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — humankind
  11. bark — to shout
  12. pound — a weight
  13. toast — bread
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. tear — from crying
  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