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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. game — wild animals
  3. mate — a partner
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. mate — a friend
  7. last — to go on
  8. rash — hasty
  9. wake — a trail
  10. mate — to breed
  11. tube — a container
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. rash — a series
  14. tube — the underground
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. deal — to handle
  17. last — final
  18. bark — to shout
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. game — a match
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wake — before a funeral

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