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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. bark — to shout
  5. pound — a weight
  6. last — to go on
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. file — a document
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. last — finally
  14. date — the fruit
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. file — a tool
  21. plane — a tool
  22. deal — to handle
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. pound — for dogs

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