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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. spring — a coil
  5. ball — a dance
  6. spring — the season
  7. ball — a great time
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — to shout
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. spring — of water
  13. pass — a permit
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. chest — a box
  18. lie — to recline
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. chest — of your body
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. last — to go on
  23. last — final
  24. chest — of your body

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