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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. last — finally
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. perch — the fish
  9. wind — moving air
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. wind — moving air
  12. file — a document
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. file — a line of people
  15. kick — in football
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. file — a tool
  19. last — final
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. bark — to shout
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. last — to go on
  24. temple — a place of worship

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