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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. swing — in golf
  6. spring — the season
  7. swing — music
  8. swing — to play on
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. content — happy
  14. bark — to shout
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. spring — of water
  18. object — an aim
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. spring — a coil
  22. object — to protest
  23. content — the amount
  24. object — a thing

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