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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. rest — what's left
  3. object — to protest
  4. bark — to shout
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. rest — what's left
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. cap — a lid
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. last — final
  12. last — to go on
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. object — a thing
  16. object — an aim
  17. cap — of ice
  18. last — finally
  19. chest — a box
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. cap — a hat
  22. chest — of your body
  23. season — in sport
  24. rest — a break

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