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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. last — final
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. last — to go on
  7. game — a match
  8. season — of the year
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. root — the cause
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. game — wild animals
  13. season — in sport
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. branch — a division
  19. root — of a plant
  20. bark — to shout
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. root — of a word
  24. bark — of a tree

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