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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. last — final
  4. wound — an injury
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. last — to go on
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. last — finally
  12. scale — in music
  13. bark — to shout
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a line of people
  19. wound — an injury
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. scale — size or range

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