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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. last — to go on
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. pit — a hole
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. wound — an injury
  9. last — final
  10. bark — to shout
  11. band — a ring
  12. file — a line of people
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. deal — to handle
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. file — a tool
  18. band — a music group
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. pit — in a race
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. last — finally
  24. file — a document

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