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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bark · club · dip · last · wind · press

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. press — to push
  3. bark — to shout
  4. last — final
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. dip — to sink
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. press — a publisher
  10. last — finally
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. press — newspapers
  13. wind — moving air
  14. club — a group
  15. last — to go on
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. club — for dancing
  18. wind — moving air

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