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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 120 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. season — in sport
  3. hand — in cards
  4. mate — a friend
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. season — of the year
  8. swing — to play on
  9. craft — boats
  10. swing — music
  11. swing — in golf
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. last — to go on
  15. wax — to grow
  16. craft — a skill
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. mate — to breed
  19. hand — help
  20. last — finally
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. mate — a partner
  24. bark — to shout

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