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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: bear · clip · straw · game · mark · pound · fork · snap

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. clip — to cut
  4. game — a match
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — the animal
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. snap — to click
  10. mark — a grade
  11. fork — in a road
  12. game — wild animals
  13. clip — a video
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. mark — a trace
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. pound — a weight
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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