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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: coach · bore · bark · drill · season · last · craft · vault

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. last — to go on
  3. vault — a safe
  4. last — final
  5. season — in sport
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. drill — a practice
  9. craft — boats
  10. season — of the year
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. drill — army training
  18. craft — a skill
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. bark — to shout
  21. drill — the tool
  22. last — finally
  23. bore — to tire
  24. bark — of a tree

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