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

Word bank: pound · wind · cell · last · bark · squash

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  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. bark — of a tree
  2. squash — to crush
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. cell — in biology
  5. pound — a weight
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. last — final
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. squash — the sport
  14. bark — to shout
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — finally
  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