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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. bark — to shout
  5. capital — a city
  6. cue — a hint
  7. last — finally
  8. last — final
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cue — for pool
  17. land — a country
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cue — a signal
  20. capital — money
  21. prune — to trim
  22. land — ground
  23. land — to come down
  24. lash — an eyelash

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