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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. cue — a signal
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. chest — a box
  6. tube — the underground
  7. wound — an injury
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. wound — an injury
  10. object — to protest
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cue — a hint
  13. tube — a container
  14. chest — of your body
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bark — to shout
  18. last — to go on
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. last — finally
  21. capital — money
  22. cue — for pool
  23. object — a thing
  24. object — an aim

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