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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. bark — to shout
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. sharp — clever
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. staff — a stick
  7. staff — employees
  8. rest — what's left
  9. wound — an injury
  10. last — finally
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. rest — a break
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. last — to go on
  16. wound — an injury
  17. rest — what's left
  18. field — a subject
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. staff — employees

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