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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. last — finally
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. tear — to rip
  7. last — final
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. foot — a measure
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. last — to go on
  15. file — a tool
  16. bark — to shout
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. file — a document
  22. tear — from crying
  23. file — a line of people
  24. wound — an injury

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