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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. clip — for paper
  4. last — finally
  5. last — final
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. rest — what's left
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. last — to go on
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. present — the time now
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. clip — to cut
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. present — a gift
  17. hand — help
  18. present — there
  19. bark — to shout
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. clip — a video
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. toast — bread
  24. rest — a break

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