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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: lean · straw · bark · fall · clip · last · pitch · cabinet

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. bark — to shout
  3. fall — the season
  4. lean — to bend
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. last — final
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. clip — to cut
  9. pitch — completely
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. last — finally
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. fall — to drop
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. lean — thin
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. clip — a video

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